Ann Cairns

Cairns joined Mastercard in 2011 and sits on its global management committee. Last year, she became executive vice president of the payments technology company, whose revenue reached nearly $15 billion in 2018. In doing so, she assumed a sort of ambassador role for the firm, and she has focused her advocacy on gender diversity, aiding Mastercard’s effort to compile balanced slates of candidates for every senior appointment. Cairns has embraced that cause outside of the company too; in June, she became co-chair of The 30% Club, a high-profile U.K.-based organization that campaigns for more women at all levels of global business.

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