Mary CunningHam Agee

Biography

Mary Cunningham Agee is the best-selling author of "Powerplay," an autobiography that reached the New York Times list in record time for a first-time author. Her literary talent was recognized by the Author's Guild with the Golden Pen Award for outstanding achievement. Her views have been included in many books including American Women Activists’ Writings — An Anthology, 1637-2002. 

Education

Ms. Cunningham Agee graduated in 1979 from the Harvard Business School with a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. She graduated with Honors from Wellesley College where she majored in Logic and Philosophy and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Cunningham Agee has been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Loyola University Maryland, Stonehill College, Franklin Pierce College, Chestnut Hill College, Notre Dame College and the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology at Berkeley.

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My path to Harvard Business School was an unlikely one. Abandoned by my father at five years old, I learned resilience from my courageous single mother. A beloved uncle, Monsignor “Father Bill” Nolan, Chaplain at Dartmouth College for 37 years,  stepped in to become my father figure. It was Father Bill who reminded me that success is best achieved by becoming a “practical idealist”— and it was he who encouraged me to find my balance in life by attending HBS. 

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Professional Employment Experience

Ms.Cunningham Agee was one of the first women to serve in the senior management of two Fortune 100 companies. She was appointed Vice President of Strategic Planning at Bendix and Executive Vice President of the Seagram Wine Company. Ms. Cunningham Agee began her business career at Chase Manhattan Bank’s HQ as an Assistant Treasurer and was hired by Salomon Brothers in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department.

Awards & Honors

Mary Cunningham Agee was twice voted by World Almanac as one of the “25 Most Influential Women in America.” She was chosen by Good Housekeeping as “100 Young Women of Promise” in their 100th anniversary edition and received the Humanitarian Lifetime award from the Wisdom Institute, The Centennial Medal of Honor from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University, The Economic Equity Award from the Women’s Equity Action League and the Freedom Award from Provo, Utah. She was appointed to the Order of Malta and the Order of the Holy Sepulcher and was recognized by the Harvard Business School Alumni Association as an Honoree at their “50 Years of Women at HBS” celebration. 

Publications and Speeches

Ms. Cunningham Agee has addressed such diverse and prestigious organizations as the Commonwealth Club of California, the Young Presidents' Organization, the American Newspaper Publishers Association, the National Association of Accountants, the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the American Personnel and Guidance Association, the Pontifical Athenaeum of the Holy Cross and the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy. 

Ms. Cunningham Agee received the highest rating as a public speaker from the International Platform Association. She continues to speak out with courage and conviction about empowerment of women, defense of the most vulnerable, humanizing the corporate culture, and reforming the society at large. 

Her speeches and commentaries have been widely published in such well-known publications as Newsweek, TV Guide, Harper's Bazaar, International Management, Working Woman, Industry Week, Conference Board Magazine, and Vital Speeches. Her views on corporate ethics have been published in Institutions for Projecting American Values Abroad, III.

She has been interviewed on many prominent national radio and television programs including: CBS “48 Hours,” ABC News Forum with Peter Jennings, CBS This Morning, CBS News Nightwatch, The Phil Donahue Show, The Barbara Walters Special, NBC Today Show, Good Morning America, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, and Ted Koppel.

Ms. Cunningham Agee’s Board service includes the Gregorian University Foundation, Key Bank of Idaho, First Women's Bank of New York, the Diocesan Board of Stewards in both Idaho and Monterey, CA, the Board of Governors of the Music Center of Los Angeles, and the Salvation Army. Other Board service includes Marymount Manhattan College, Franklin Pierce College, the Institute of Business Ethics, the Hoffman Institute and the Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin, the Catholic Schools Foundation, and Justin-Siena High School in Napa Valley. 

Practical Compassion

For over 30 years, Mary Cunningham Agee has served as President of Semper Charitable Foundation, a family foundation that contributes to empowerment and education for society's most vulnerable. She is President and CEO of Aurea Estate Wines, Inc., a family boutique wine company specializing in the production and marketing of premium Pinot Noir and Merlot.

Ms. Cunningham Agee is the Founder of the Nurturing Network, an international charitable organization dedicated to alleviating the many forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation that persist in our global society. For over three decades, the Network specialized in offering an individually-tailored program of practical, life affirming support free of charge to college students and working women. 

Under Mary’s leadership, the Nurturing Network grew to include 50,000 volunteer Resource Members located in all 50 states and in 33 foreign countries. TNN provided counseling, medical services, nurturing homes, employment, educational opportunities and financial assistance to over 27,000 women whose own support networks had let them down. Setting politics and rhetoric aside, the Network provided for the urgent and practical needs of any woman abandoned during pregnancy.

Her leadership in founding and directing The Nurturing Network has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Good Housekeeping, Reader's Digest, USA Today, and Newsweek among many others.

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My life has been rewarding beyond measure. I am most proud of having raised two bright and caring children who demonstrate the courage and integrity to make a difference in this world.

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Ms. Agee continues to write and teach about a culture in need of practical compassion. She is the mother of two children, Mary Alana and Will, and two grandchildren, Braden and Hailey. Mary lives in the Napa Valley where she enjoys writing, gardening, sports of all kinds and wine making.