Linda Mason is global Chair of Mercy Corps, a $300 million international relief and development agency that operates in 43 countries, serving 17 million people with major programs in some of the most difficult environments in the world. In her capacity as Chair, Ms. Mason is engaged with the strategy and development of the agency and serves a representational role abroad and in the U.S. Linda Mason is Founder and Chair of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the largest world-wide provider of worksite child care and early education. Bright Horizons operates more than 750 high quality child development centers for employers in 43 states and Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, employing 19,000 people and serving more than 80,000 families.
Bright Horizons was selected by Fortune magazine in January 2012 for the 13th time as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For in America.” In addition, Ms. Mason co-founded Horizons for Homeless Children, a Boston-based organization that serves the needs of homeless children throughout New England and provides assistance to mothers to reach self-sufficiency. Earlier in her career, Ms. Mason managed large-scale refugee relief operations overseas. As Co-Country Director of Save the Children’s emergency program in Sudan during the African famine of 1984-85, she created a national program that served 400,000 Sudanese famine victims.
Ms. Mason also directed, in 1980, a large feeding program for children in Cambodian refugee camps along the Thai border after the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. She co-authored the book, Rice, Rivalry, and Politics (University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), which looked at the politics and challenges of the Cambodian relief operation.
Ms. Mason holds a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. She has held leadership positions on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Yale Corporation, the Yale School of Management Advisory Board, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace among others.