Walking the Leadership Tightrope:
Power Women Offer Words of Wisdom

Friday, November 5th
11:00 am - 12:15 pm

Focus
Explore the challenges and exhilaration of running a business, as you hear how these leading women build and nurture their organizations. Learn from their remarkable abilities to manage, motivate and lead in a crisis; gain inspiration from their successes.

Panelist

Meryl Golden GM NE Agency Business, Progressive

Meryl Golden, General Manager Northeast Agency Business,Progressive
Meryl Golden was named General Manager for the Northeast Agency business for Progressive in 2000. In this capacity, she has marketing, sales and P&L responsibility for Progressive’s $1.5 billion Agency business in the Northeast. As GM for the Northeast, Meryl manages a team of 55 professionals spread across nine states to help Progressive fortify its brand name and guarantee its position as the nation’s number one auto insurer sold through independent agents. This past spring, BusinessWeek announced that Progressive had claimed the top spot in the 2004 BusinessWeek 50 – the company’s annual ranking of the best performing members of the S&P 500- stock index. Progressive is the third largest auto insurance company in the country with close to $13 billion in total written premium.

After starting out her career in accounting, Meryl joined Progressive in 1986 as the Product Manager for Strategic Alliances. In 1990, she became the Product Manager for Universal Auto, Progressive’s initial foray into the preferred personal lines auto market. In this position, Meryl was faced with many exciting and trying challenges associated with entering a new market. Despite the project’s ultimate failure, several pivotal product advancements were initiated under Meryl’s leadership. This experience formed the framework for Progressive's eventual breakout from its historical non-standard niche, positioning the company for dramatic growth. In 1993, Meryl became the Product Manager for Connecticut and in 1996 Meryl was promoted to the General Manager of Connecticut where she assumed responsibility for claims, marketing and sales for the state. Progressive experienced a five-fold increase in premiums during the 1990's. Meryl was promoted to the role of General Manager for the Agency business in 2000.

Meryl received her BS from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in accounting and received her MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business with a concentration in marketing and finance. Meryl lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.

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