Photograph by Andrew RenneisenThe New York Times/Redux. Endorsement: Helena Buonanno Foulkes for Rhode Island governor, Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes is running for Rhode Island governor on the strength of her business background: Its about getting stuff done, Foulkes promises single term as governor if school test scores don't improve. The competition for those lucrative prescriptions will go a long way toward determining who wins in the drugstore business long-term. In her tweets, she said she'd given to Democrats mostly over the years, but "to some Republicans, too -- because, like most Rhode Islanders, I wanted a government where people from both parties could work together and get things done. In 2006, Ryan completely transformed CVSand altered the dynamics of the drugstore industrywhen he orchestrated a $22 billion deal to acquire the pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx, nearly doubling the size of his company by revenue. "We pay more per capita than any nation in the country. Butdespite the close proximity to politicians, Foulkes said she didn't have much direct exposuregrowing up tocampaigning or any of the meat-and-potatoes of retail electioneering. I will make sure we do. Instead of steel drums, he ran theOld Fox Fertilizer Co. of East Providence,which briefly competed with lawn-care giant Scott'sfertilizer in the 1980s. Shes a leader. The Board of Overseers is one of Harvards two governing boards, along with the President and Fellows, also known as the Corporation. And she can show themthateven a former CEO who grew up around U.S. senators can be down to earth. "I was exhausted but I thought I just had been workingtoo much and had four little kids. Foulkes left CVS in 2018 to become CEO of the Hudson's Bay Company, the holding company with roots as a 17th-century colonial fur trading empire that owns Sak's Fifth Avenue and other retailers.. She views her annual checkup as a time to reflect on how things could have been a lot worse. To emphasize his companys evolution, in 2014 CEO Larry Merlo changed the companys name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health. Helena was the President of CVS pharmacy where she led many groundbreaking innovations, including the elimination of tobacco in its 8000 stores, and she led a successful turnaround of Hudsons Bay Company, an international retailer. In June, CVS announced that it would spend $1.9 billion to acquire Targets pharmacy and clinic business. Helena G. Buonanno Foulkes '86, the president of Harvard's Board of Overseers, is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Rhode Island. ", Rhode Island's lieutenant governor race: Three Democrats make the case. Currently, Ms. Foulkes is Co-Chairman & Co-Chief Executive Officer at this company. That is crucial given the new era of disruption were entering in the health care industry. Her father, Bernard Buonanno Jr., is the long-time chairman of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority. Besides these, it is interesting to note that Foulkes was one of the leading voices that convinced CVS Health Corporation to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products. [4] She helped spur the decision to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products, citing the need for CVS to better position itself as a healthcare company. Dan McKee, Foulkesisopposed to acap or moratorium on new charter schools, something the General Assembly has been looking at for years. WPRI reports that "she would seek to spur job growth, reduce regulations, deal with the effects of climate change, and improve public education. (She also enjoyed the jewelers employee discount.) Foulkes serves on the boards of Skillsoft, Harrys Inc., and mPharma. Dan McKee took over in March of 2021. Gov. CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes during a 2018 TV appearance. She grew up in Rhode Island and attended Lincoln School in Providence. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband. Foulkes received 33,931 votes, so the . RI candidates try to sway undecided voters: Here's how they are making their case. Her adviser for her senior thesis was Larry Summers, who would go on to become Treasury Secretary and, for a while, president of Harvard. [1], In 2011, CVS made Foulkes its chief health care strategy and marketing officer, a new position created for her. Lincoln Chafee named her to his transition team and later, as vice-chair of the state Economic Development Corporation. Taking medication for a chronic condition is an experience that she knows firsthand. Its footprint is about to get even bigger. Rumors that Foulkes would run for governor began not long afterGina Raimondo left the job to become U.S. commerce secretary and Lt. Gov. Public asset : 384,000 USD. Around a quarter of Hudson Bay's shareholders voted against the pay package, accordingto the Canadian Press. I bring my expertise as a faculty member and former vice provost for academics at Northwestern University to support Harvards academic mission with a keen eye toward addressing inequities in the academy and in society.. She wants to eliminate co-pays onmedication forchronic conditions, starting with diabetes andasthmaand eventually others, such as HIV. }; She unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2022 election and is the former Chief Executive Officer of Hudson's Bay Company. In 2014, CVS paid $2.1 billion for Coram, which delivers treatments to homebound patients. s.type= 'text/javascript'; In 1997, when Ryan was COO, he plucked Foulkes out of a job in merchandising and asked her to start a loyalty program for CVS from scratch. Helena Foulkes is an experienced CEO and senior executive with a track record of delivering results by building high performance teams, innovative consumer-driven launches and digital transformation. CVS reaped an immediate public relations windfall from the tobacco exit, earning approving tweets from the White House, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates, among others. "I think we have a broken health care system," she said. On top of that, the corporations operations were riddled through and through with problems, so much so that Foulkes has described her shock at seeing some of them. 2023 www.providencejournal.com. See you back here next Saturday morning. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world. There was an opportunity for us to shift our model from just filling prescriptions as efficiently and productively as possible to providing services in the store that actually keep people on the medicines, Foulkes says. For example, Foulkes was the one who launched the ExtraCare card, which is CVS Health Corporations membership program that offers savings for those who shop at its stores. Particular interests include the mentoring of students of color, first-generation students, and low-income students, and fostering the careers of female faculty, faculty of color, and LGBTQ faculty in the academy. Ryan gave her precious little guidance on how to do it, but she plunged in and figured it out on the fly. [6], On February 5, 2018, Hudson's Bay Co., owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, named Foulkes its new CEO, saying it would be effective on February 19. Ryan again turned to Foulkes, then running marketing, with a key assignment. It also has the power of consent to certain actions, such as the election of Corporation members. In a one-on-one conversation Marty Chvez 85, S.M. I was better than Providence.. Foulkes' biggest pitchtoRhode Island voters is that if elected, she can turn around some of the state's beleaguered public schools. Through its array of standing committees and the roughly 50 visiting committees that report to them, the board probes the quality of Harvards programs and assures that the University remains true to its charter as a place of learning. Currently, Ms. Foulkes is Co-Chairman & Co-Chief Executive Officer at this company. Starting in the late 1960s,Bernard Buonanno Jr. worked onthe controversial urban-renewalredevelopment ofNarragansett Pier into the Pier Village complex by Gilbane Building Co. Dan McKee has not yet announced his 2022 bid for the office to which he ascended in Marchwhen former Gov. And the system is expensive and confusing and complicated.". On top of the ethical element, there was a practical element to the choice as well, seeing as how the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products was undermining the corporations effort to brand itself as a healthcare business. That project was very personal to me. In Canada, where Hudson's Bay is part of national history and culture,Foulkes' lucrative pay package raised eyebrows anddrew objections from some shareholders. There are some corporations that get new CEOs at stable times in their operations, thus enabling said individuals to get accustomed to their new duties and responsibilities as smoothly as possible. For those who are unfamiliar with her name, Helena Foulkes is the current CEO of the Hudson's Bay Company, which started out as a fur trading business in 1670 but has since turned into an operator of retail stores in Canada as well as other countries. Like the other Democratic candidates, she's promised to borrow money to invest in"blue-economy" maritimebusinesses, and making housing more affordable. She rose through the ranks of the pharmacy chain and in 2014 became president of its pharmacy division, a position she held until 2018 until she left to become CEO of Hudson's Bay Company, which owns retail stores including Saks Fifth Avenue. She also serves on the executive committee, the committee on social sciences, and the advisory committee on honorary degrees. claim that she wanted to bail out 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling but won't discuss specifics of what did happen. Im humbled and honored to be elected president of the Board of Overseers, said Foulkes. Helena Foulkes of CVS.Photograph by Joe Pugliese for Fortune Magazine. The company is based in the United States and has earned its reputation, Read More Does UPS Drug Test All Its Employees?Continue, Uber Eats is a fast-growing food delivery company offering services in over 200 cities worldwide. "Around the Water Cooler With CVS Caremark's Helena Foulkes", "CVS Health chief: Consumers care more about wallet than health", "CVS Caremark to stop selling tobacco products", "Saks Owner Hudson's Bay Appoints CVS Executive Helena Foulkes as CEO", "CVS Health exec named CEO of department store giant", "Hudson's Bay Poaches Helena Foulkes From CVS", "New Hudson's Bay CEO Helena Foulkes says 'no sacred cows' as retailer seeks elusive turnaround", "WSJ News Exclusive | CEO of Saks Parent to Step Down", "Hudson's Bay CEO Helena Foulkes on the way out as retailer prepares to go private", "Helena Foulkes to Serve as Harvard Board of Overseers President", "Helena Foulkes kicks off run for RI governor", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helena_Foulkes&oldid=1139351785, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 February 2023, at 18:00. Her mother died in 2009 from lung cancer. Gina Raimondo, a good friend, calls Foulkes a get-things-done person. (For more on Raimondo, read This governor is worth keeping tabs on from this issue.). As such, Foulkes is responsible for running a retailer in a less than promising environment, which is an unenviable task. Front-of-store comparable sales were down 7.8% in the second quarter of 2015, in large part because of the lost tobacco revenue. var params = The program she created, ExtraCare, has been a major success since it rolled out nationally in 2001. At CVS, Foulkes climbed the corporate ladder to become president of the company's pharmacy business and had enough political juice that in January 2011 when then-Gov. The Hudson Bay Company faced criticism north of the border for the $29 million it paid Foulkes to lure her from CVS, one of the largest compensation packages in Canada that year. Click here to read the survey answers. And in August, CVS closed a $12.7 billion deal for Omnicare, a distributor of prescription drugs to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Everything you need to know to get your ballot. Over the course of her time with the company, she played an important leadership role in growing CVS to the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States. Sheis theco-director of NorthwesternsTwo-Generation Research Initiative,andshe served as thefounding director ofCells to Society, Northwesterns Center on Social Disparities and Healthat IPR. She grew up in Providence, attended theprivate Lincoln School and then Harvard. Does Uber Eats Run Background Checks on its Employees? Any desire to hold political office?My family and my parents were involved and active; we all have a great passion for the positive role that governmental leaders can play. 14) is having Christmas in July. In June, CVS agreed to pay $1.9 billion to acquire and operate some 1,700 Target pharmacies and clinics. Ms. Foulkes is also Director-Board of Overseers at Harvard University and on the board of 6 other companies. ", Her take-aways from that experience: "No.1, alot of people, everyone is sort of walking through life carrying hard things you don't always know about when you see them and, the other thing is just how fortunate I was that I had a great family, a great employer, so I got to take a few months to take care of myself. Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller agreed:"If she is planning to run from a businessperspective,shewill have tooutmaneuverDanMcKee, who also has a business background,andSethMagaziner,whohas beenworkingtoputthe statefinanceson an even keel.". Helena Foulkes is 55, she's been the Independent Director of Home Depot since 2013. Foulkes, who early in her career at CVS was a category manager for cosmetics, remarks at how much the display pops with color. When U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke at Brown University's commencementthis spring, there was littlechance she would failto shout out Foulkes' late mother, Pelosi'sfriendMarthaDodd Buonanno. More generally, drawing on its members diverse experiences and expertise, the board providescounsel to the Universitys leadership on priorities, plans, and strategicinitiatives. 10 on the Fortune 500 this year, with $139.4 billion in revenue in 2014enough to put it ahead of massive drug distributor McKesson (MCK) ($138 billion) and insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH) ($130.5 billion). Helena is a strong advocate for investing in high-quality public education and believes that great public schools are the key to a strong, equitable economy. Foulkes filmed herlaunch video on an iPad on a tripod in her home in Narragansett. She denies Chafee's claim that she wanted to bail out 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling but won't discuss specifics of what did happen. 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