Connector Leader

Profile: Liz Dow, President, LEADERSHIP Philadelphia

Liz Dow is president and CEO of LEADERSHIP Philadelphia. Called Philadelphia's #1 Connector by Malcolm Gladwell, she works behind the scenes to help individuals and organizations to extend their reach and improve their performance. Dow is committed to encouraging greater civic engagement in Philadelphia and to creating innovative ways to mobilize people to serve. The Connector Project is the most recent example of how Dow turned an idea into a tangible outcome to cause conversations about leadership that lead to action.

Liz has run LEADERSHIP Philadelphia for twenty years. Prior to this she served as senior vice president with FirstUSA (now JPMorgan). She earned an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from Cornell University. She served as a Wharton Public Policy Fellow at the White House. She currently serves on the boards of the local Knight Foundation, Sunday Breakfast Club, and the Eisenhower Exchange Fellows Selection Committee. She chaired the Mural Arts board and has served on the boards of Girard College, Widener University, MEDecision, Christ Church Preservation Trust, the Please Touch Museum, the Philadelphia History Museum, and the Philadelphia Zoo. Recently, Liz was profiled on the cover of the SmartCEO magazine issue on "Leaders We Admire". She was given the Mayor's Citizenship Award, listed in the Philadelphia Business Journal as one of the 23 Most Influential Business People in the city, named by the Eagles as one of "The 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians," and just named to Fast Company's list of 15 Superconnectors: People Who Are Taking Networking to a New Level. She is the author of Six Degrees of Connection and writes a blog on wonder at work for the Huffington Post.