Christie Hefner

A seasoned professional with more than thirty years of experience at executive levels in both public and private companies, as well as multiple company directorships, today, Christie works with companies and CEOs on strategy, innovation, and growth; including ScentBeauty, a multi-brand developer and distributor for scented products; Public Good, an AI-driven digital platform that allows brands to scalably engage with the consumer; and Newlight Technologies which patented a technology to convert methane into ocean biodegradable plastic.

Christie was inducted into the Women’s Business Development Center Hall of Fame for “opening doors and building opportunities for all women entrepreneurs.” For three years, Christie was named one of Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful Women in the World. From 2009-2013, Christie headed up a new entity, Canyon Ranch Enterprises, to leverage the Canyon Ranch brand and content in the health and wellness space.

For 15 years, she has been on the Advisory Board of Springboard Enterprises, a nonprofit that is an accelerator for women tech entrepreneurs and supports them as they raise capital to grow their businesses.  She’s a Trustee of Rush University Medical Center and previously served as the CORE Center’s Project Chairman and then Foundation Board Member, leading the effort to raise $30 million to build this innovative clinic and research facility for people with HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases; and she’s a board member The Center for American Progress Action, the leading progressive public policy think tank.

She was a founding member of The Committee of 200, The Chicago Network, and the Chicago Chapter of Women Corporate Directors, and she was the first woman elected into the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Previously, Christie served 20 years as Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, a NYSE-listed company, making her the longest-serving female CEO of a publicly traded company when she left.  She was widely credited with developing and leading the execution of strategies that repositioned the company from its legacy domestic magazine business to a brand-driven global multi-media company.  When she left, over 40% of her executives were women. 

She has received a YWCA Leadership Award and the Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership, from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the industry’s highest honor, for her strong advocacy of workplace diversity and her longstanding commitment to First Amendment rights.