Atlantic Council

Biography

Orit Gadiesh

Orit Gadiesh is widely acknowledged as an expert on management and corporate strategy. As Chairman of Bain & Company, the global strategy consulting firm, Ms. Gadiesh has worked with hundreds of CEOs and senior executives of major international companies on strategy development and the implementation of change within the corporation.

Ms. Gadiesh has advised top level management in structuring and managing portfolios, developing and implementing global strategy, executing turnarounds, improving organizational effectiveness, determining marketing channel and supply chain strategies, designing both cost reduction and growth programs. As well as serving as Chairman, she continues to be directly involved with her own clients. She splits her time on active client work between North America, Europe, and Asia.

Ms. Gadiesh is a frequent contributor to business publications. Articles she has authored include, “China’s ‘Good Enough’ Market” for the Wall Street Journal, “Outsmarting China’s Start Arounds”, for the Far Eastern Economic Review, “Think Globally, Market Locally”, for the Wall Street Journal, "How to Map Your Industry's Profit Pool", and “Transforming Corner-Office Strategy into Frontline Action”, for Harvard Business Review. Ms. Gadiesh is also a sought after speaker at high-level executive conferences around the globe, such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the World Knowledge Forum in Asia.

Prior to joining Bain & Company, Ms. Gadiesh served in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. She holds degrees from Hebrew University, Jerusalem (BA, Summa Cum Laude) and Harvard Business School (MBA with highest honors). She was named a Baker Scholar and was also presented the Brown Award. She held a faculty position with Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Institute of Management.

Ms. Gadiesh volunteers her experience as a pragmatic strategist to the academic, business and civic community in both the local and global arenas. She is an active board or council member at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and the International Advisory Board at HEC, (Haute Ecole Commerciale) in France. Additionally, Ms. Gadiesh is a member of the Board of Directors at WPP, a member of the Foundation Board for the World Economic Forum, and on the Board of Directors of The Peres Institute for Peace. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Trustee for Eisenhower Fellowships, and a Committee Member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She sits on the International Advisory Board of The Atlantic Council of the United States, and the Advisory Board for the British-American Business Council.

Ms. Gadiesh has received multiple awards for distinguished leadership, both in the US and abroad. Ms. Gadiesh has been named to Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Business” list numerous times. She was awarded the 2000 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award for outstanding achievement, and awarded the 2000 Distinguished Leadership Award from IDC University, the 2002 Leadership Award from Ben Gurion University, the International Institute of Boston’s 25th Annual Golden Door Award in 2002, for outstanding contribution to the community, and awarded Le Trophée INSEAD in 2006. Ms. Gadiesh has also been named to Forbes Magazine’s “The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World” in both 2005 and 2006.