Printable Biography of Mary S. Elcano

Mary S. Elcano became Acting President and CEO of the American Red Cross on November 27, 2007. She is also General Counsel for the Red Cross, serving as the chief legal officer responsible for litigation and advice for Red Cross national headquarters, chapters and Blood Services regions for general corporate law, employment and labor law, ethics, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), mediation, federal regulatory matters, international law, estates and trusts.

Elcano also serves as the Corporate Secretary to the Board of Governors and Red Cross senior management. In that capacity she is responsible for Board resolutions and corporate records as well as advising the Board on ethics and corporate governance matters, organizing meeting agendas, minutes, logistics and planning.

Before joining the Red Cross, she was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Sidley Austin LLP. Elcano had an extensive practice in two areas. She advised and represented clients on postal matters in the United States and internationally. Clients included large direct mail marketing companies, express freight shippers, national logistics and printing companies, and the paper and envelope industry. Elcano also represented clients in employment law, focusing on diversity, discrimination and ADR. At Sidley, she introduced Workplace Innovations in Negotiated Solutions (WINS), a comprehensive set of ADR tools customized to fit a client's corporate culture and goals.

In 1982, Elcano embarked on what would be an 18-year career at the U.S. Postal Service. Starting as an employment law attorney, she attained successive senior management positions in Human Resources and capped her career as USPS General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Human Resources in 2000. As General Counsel, she was responsible for federal and corporate practice areas, legislative matters, litigation/ADR and was counsel to the Board of Governors. As Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Elcano directed the USPS employment, labor relations and diversity areas for an 800,000-employee workforce and created an ADR program for the Postal Service – REDRESS – which resulted in a 50 percent reduction in EEO complaints in two years.