Pat Mitchell

Author of, “Becoming A Dangerous Woman: Embracing Risk to Change The World,” Pat Mitchell is known for her leadership in the media indus¬try as a CEO, producer and curator. The first woman presi¬dent and CEO of PBS, she has served as president and CEO of the Paley Center for Media. She is also the former president of CNN Pro¬duc¬tions, where she executive produced hun-dreds of hours of tele¬vision documentaries and specials (which received 35 Emmy awards and 15 Peabody awards).

Pat is the editorial director of TEDWomen. Throughout her career as a journalist, Emmy-winning producer and pioneering executive, she has focused on sharing women=s stories. She creates opportunities for women and girls to engage with their passions, purpose and power. She is chair of the Sundance and the Women=s Media Center boards and a trustee of the VDAY movement, the Skoll Foundation and the Acumen Fund. She is an advisor to Participant Media and served as a congressional appointment to The American Museum of Women=s History Advisory Council. She is also a member of “The Council on Foreign Relations.”

In partnership with TED, Mitchell launched TEDWomen in 2010 and is its editorial director, curator and host. She is also a speaker and curator for the annual, “Women Working for the World” forum in Bogota, Colombia, the “Her Village” conference in Beijing, and the “Women of the World” (WOW) festival in London. In 2017, she launched the “Transformational Change Leadership Initiative” with the Rockefeller Foundation, focused on women leaders in government and civil society.

In 2014, the Women=s Media Center honored Mitchell with its first-annual Lifetime Achievement Award, now named in her honor to commend other women whose media careers advance the representation of women. Recognized by Hollywood Reporter as one of the most powerful women in media, Fast Company=s ALeague of Extraordinary Women@ and Huffington Post=s list of APowerful Women Over 50,@ Mitchell also received the Sandra Day O'Connor Award for Leadership. She is a contributor to, “Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Practice of Leadership,” and wrote the introduction to the recently published book and museum exhibition, “130 Women of Impact in 30 Countries.”

Mitchell is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, and holds a master's degree in English literature, as well as several honorary doctorate degrees. She and her husband, Scott Seydel, live in Atlanta and have six children and 13 grandchildren.