Mary Cunningham Agee (born September 1, 1951) is an American business executive and author.[1] She served in the top management of two Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s, one of the first women to do so, and was voted one of the "25 Most Influential Women in America" by World Almanac in 1981 and 1982.[2][3] Agee is a Managing Partner of the Semper Charitable Foundation[4] and CEO of the family's boutique wine business, Aurea Estate Wines, Inc.[citation needed]
Agee is the founder of The Nurturing Network (TNN), an international charitable organization which throughout its 30 years of service has taught about the need for empowerment among the most disadvantaged in society.[5][6][7]
Early years
Cunningham was born in Falmouth, Maine, to Irish-American parents. When she was five years old, her parents separated. Her mother moved her four children to Hanover, New Hampshire, where a relative, Monsignor William Nolan, a chaplain at Dartmouth College,[8][9] offered paternal support for the family.[5][10][11]
She graduated in 1979 from the Harvard Business School with an MBA in finance and international business. The HBS dean referred to Cunningham as having the "best chance of being the first female graduate of the Business School to become chairman of a non-cosmetic company."[13][14][15]
At Bendix, she was quickly promoted to Vice President of Strategic Planning by Agee.[18] Following public accusations of an affair with Agee, Cunningham resigned on October 8, 1980.[10][10][16][19][20]Stanford University Business School made Cunningham's experience a case study in its course, "Power and Politics in Organizations".[21][22]
Cunningham's autobiography, "Powerplay - What Really Happened at Bendix" [23] chronicles her departure from the firm. Following her resignation, she accepted the position of Vice President of Strategic Planning at Joseph E. Seagram and Sons where she reported to both President Phil Beekman, and CEOEdgar Bronfman, Sr.[17][21] Within a year, she was promoted to Executive Vice President of the newly formed Seagram Wine Company, overseeing the development and implementation of Seagram's worldwide wine strategy.[10][20][22]
Cunningham and her first husband, financial executive Howard Gray, were divorced in 1980. In June 1982, she married Agee.[24] After 35 years of marriage, Agee filed for divorce from Cunningham, although it was never finalized due to his death in December 2017.[25]
Mary Cunningham Agee founded The Nurturing Network following the death of her first child, Angela Grace, in a late trimester miscarriage in January 1984.[5][26] That loss prompted Agee to investigate the availability of resources for women whose pregnancies end through abortion due to lack of economic, educational or social support. She founded The Nurturing Network to provide women with access to resources, counseling and advice.[27][28] It is a consortium of volunteers, professional service providers, pregnancy resource centers and faith-based initiatives that has provided tangible resources to individuals seeking their support. Agee's book Compassion in Action[7] presents her story of the Network's program over 20 years. In addition to counseling, Agee's educational role at TNN has included writing and motivational speaking. Her work has been featured[29] in publications such as The Wall Street Journal,[27][30]Reader's Digest,[28]U.S. News & World Report,[31]The Washington Post,[32] and Good Housekeeping,[33][34][35] and she has been profiled on American radio and television programs such as CBS's 48 Hours,[36][full citation needed] and James Dobson's Focus on the Family.[37]
Agee was an early advocate of establishing a common ground.[38][39][40]Peter Jennings referred to Ms. Agee's common ground position as "the demilitarized zone" in his televised three hour report, "The Next Civil War" on ABC News Forum.[41]
Agee has served on the boards of First Women's Bank of New York, the Catholic Schools Foundation in Boston, the Gregorian Foundation, the Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin, the Culture of Life Foundation,[42] the Thomas More Law Center's advisory board,[43] Loyola College in Maryland, the Hoffman Institute, and the National Council for Adoption. She is a founding member of the Napa Valley Chapter of Legatus.
In the 1980s, Good Housekeeping voted Agee in their 100th Anniversary Edition as one of "100 Young Women of Promise", and she was included among the YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers.[44] Her business awards include the inaugural Ambassador of the Year Award from Legatus,[45] the ITV Woman of the Year Award from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the John Paul II Award from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, and the Ex corde Ecclesiae Award from the Cardinal Newman Society.[46]
Agee also received the Economic Equity Award from the Women's Equity Action League and the Centennial Medal of Honor from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. Her views were included in "American Women Activists' Writing - An Anthology, 1637-2002."[47] In 2017, she was selected for inclusion in the publication, "Wine Country Women of Napa Valley" which featured leaders in the community.[48]
References
^ abPowerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon & Schuster, 1984
^"A spiritual life helps Bendix cause celebre pursue mission," Chicago Tribune, February 28, 1993
^ ab"Business World: A Working Woman's Network Into Motherhood", Tim W. Ferguson, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1990
^ ab"Network of Hope", Una McManus, Reader's Digest, November 1991, pp 132–136
^Powerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon & Schuster, 1984, pp 11-12
^"Attacking Abortion in a Positive Way", Joseph G. Maty, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1990
^"Mary Agee", U.S. News & World Report, February 20, 2005, printed, February 28, 2005
^"Pro-Nurturing Alternative to Abortion", The Washington Post, July 1994
^"The Nurturing Network", Good Housekeeping, November 1991
^"Building a Culture of Life." The Human Life Review, The Human Life Foundation, Inc., New York, NY, Vol. XXVIII, Nos. 1 & 2, Winter / Spring 2002
^"Whole Lotta Love for Moms & Babies", Business: Mary Cunningham Agee, Pro-Family Profile, Gina Giambrone, National Catholic Register, January 14–20, 2007, B2-B2