Marla Persky is CEO and President of WOMN LLC, a company dedicated to helping women succeed in the business of law by increasing their knowledge of and acuity with financial drivers, client development, and leadership. Throughout her professional life, Ms. Persky has had the opportunity to understand and practice business principles that lead to personal and company success.
Ms. Persky retired in 2013 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., where she oversaw a department of over 70 individuals. She was a member of Boehringer’s executive management team and a director of the company and several of its subsidiaries. Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, Ms. Persky spent 19 years at Baxter International Inc. where she held numerous business and legal positions, the most recent of which was Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. During her career at Baxter, Ms. Persky managed global legal services, was General Manager of an international medical device business, led international crisis management teams, acquired, and integrated international businesses, and designed/implemented strategies to manage global mass torts.
Ms. Persky currently serves on the Audit and Chairs the Governance Committees of Xeris BioPharma Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: XERS), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing therapies for patients with life-threatening endocrine, neurologic and gastroenterologic disease. Additionally, she is on the Board of Directors of REVOLO Biotherapeutics which develops therapies to reset the immune system to achieve long-term remission for patients with autoimmune and allergic diseases. Ms. Persky also serves as Chair of the Nominating/Governance and as a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees of Panavance Inc. an early-stage developer of treatments for pancreatic cancer, and on the Audit and Strategic Planning Committees of the Board of Directors of YGEIA, a medical informatics technology company. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Cytyc Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTYC) a device and diagnostics company. She was on the Board of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, the world’s largest privately-owned pharmaceutical company, and a director of Watermark, Inc. a private publisher and broker of children’s literature.
In addition to her corporate activities, Ms. Persky is on the Board of several not-for-profit organizations such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Primary Stages (Off-Broadway Theater Company), and World Neighbors Inc.
Ms. Persky is a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects including leadership principles, career development, networking, board service, diversity, crisis management, and negotiation techniques. She is a graduate of Washington University School of law and Northwestern University.
Throughout her career, Ms. Persky has focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. She has been awarded for her contributions by elite organizations such as the Lawyer’s Collaborative for Diversity and the Connecticut Appleseed Foundation. She has received an innovation award from the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law and was recognized as one of the ten most innovative in-house counsel for her strategy and efforts to increase the opportunities and visibility of women in high-profile litigation.