Mary Beth Powers

Mary Beth Powers | President & CEO, CMMB

CMMB President & CEO Mary Beth Powers brings deep experience and a commitment to addressing health equity issues globally. Her career spans 30 years with various non-profits strengthening the provision of healthcare, water and sanitation, and social support services working with teams on program design and evaluation in more than 25 countries. Her skills span strategic planning, field technical support, partnership management, policy change, and coalition building.

At CMMB, Mary Beth leads a team of professionals, who deliver an annual average of $400 million worth of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to clinics, hospitals, and ministries of health globally. As a 110-year-old faith-inspired organization, CMMB is a leader in program development across five countries. Mary Beth’s direction has driven sustainable programming that strengthens local health systems and puts community members at the center of healthcare planning. Inspired by the organization’s commitment to Catholic Social Teaching, Mary Beth continues strengthening CMMB’s commitment to dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity with communities facing inequities.

Before joining CMMB, Mary Beth served as the Vice President of Programs at Dalio Philanthropies, and she was previously the CEO of SeriousFun Children’s Network founded by Paul Newman to provide opportunities for children with life-threatening illnesses to test their limits and build resilience across a camp network. In addition to building strong interconnectedness among the member camps, she brought new corporate partners to the mission in support of children and their families.

Prior to 2014, Mary Beth spent most of her career supporting maternal and child programs at Save the Children, eventually becoming lead on the Newborn & Child Survival Campaign to address policy and program priorities in partnership with other leading organizations working to reduce child mortality. While at Save the Children, she helped launch the Frontline Health Workers Coalition as the founding chair, which continues to advocate for support of Frontline Health Workers who serve to deliver basic health care around the world.

She has lived and worked in Egypt, Pakistan, and Thailand. She studied at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica between her undergraduate degree at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and her graduate work in public health at the University of Michigan. In 2023, Mary Beth was awarded a Doctor of Laws honorary degree from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, in recognition of her advocacy in global health, along with the faith-inspired perspective she brings to the field. Also in 2023, Mary Beth was named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 list of Impact Leaders for her exceptional leadership and dedication to making a positive impact around the world.