On September 22, 2015, the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company elected Maria Elena Lagomasino as Director, effective December 1, 2015. Ms. Lagomasino is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of WE Family Offices, a wealth advisory firm. No determination has been made as to the committee on which Ms. Lagomasino will serve.
Before founding WE, Mel served as CEO of GenSpring Family Offices, a leading wealth management firm. Prior to that, she served as chairman and chief executive officer of JP Morgan Private Bank, an institution with more than $300 billion in client assets under supervision. Her career in banking began in 1977 at Citibank. She joined the Chase Manhattan Private Bank in 1983 and was named head of Chase’s worldwide private banking business in 1997. Following the Chase-JP Morgan merger, she became chairman and chief executive officer of JP Morgan Private Bank.
Mel serves on the boards of The Coca-Cola Company, Avon Products, Inc., and the Americas Society, and is a Trustee of the National Geographic Society. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2012, Mel was named one of the Directorship 100 by the National Association of Corporate Directors and was named by American Banker one of 2012’s Top 25 Women in Finance. In September 2006, she was appointed by President Bush to help lead an effort to secure private sector funds to aid disaster victims in Central America.
A graduate of Manhattanville College (B.A.), Mel also earned graduate degrees at Columbia University (M.S.) and Fordham University (M.B.A).