National Safety Council Names Janet P. Froetscher President and CEO
Current Head of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago to Lead National Injury Prevention Organization
Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council announced today that Janet P. Froetscher, president and CEO of United
Way of Metropolitan Chicago, has been selected as its new president and chief executive officer. Froetscher replaces
former NSC President and CEO Alan C. McMillan, who retired in February.
According to Joseph J. Ucciferro, Chairman of the National Safety Council’s Board of Directors, Froetscher brings
strong professional experience in nonprofit strategic operations, civic development and banking and finance to the
NSC leadership position she will assume on June 30.
Ucciferro, who is President and CEO of Philadelphia-based Day & Zimmermann’s Commercial and Public Sector
Businesses, praised Froetscher’s professional achievements and impressive track record in establishing, executing,
implementing and integrating mission-driven strategic and operational goals.
“The Search Committee selected Janet because of her extraordinary leadership and strategic abilities, relevant
success in transforming a significant nonprofit, experience in fundraising, and demonstrated success in developing
successful partnerships which have led to enhanced mission delivery,” Ucciferro said. “Most significant, however,
is Janet’s desire to ‘make a difference,’ which is exactly what we on the Search Committee were looking for.”
As head of one of the nation’s major United Ways, Froetscher, 48, led the merger of 54 United Ways into one
metropolitan system. Critical initiatives conducted under Froetscher’s tenure at United Way include substantially
increasing community investment in programs that help people become self-sufficient, and the coordination of health
and human services in support of an estimated 7,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Prior to joining United Way, Froetscher served as chief operating officer for the Aspen Institute where she
was responsible for the global leadership forum’s strategic and financial redesign as well as its day-to-day operations.
From 1992 to 1999, Froetscher served as executive director of the service arm of the Civic Committee of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, an organization comprised of CEOs from among the Chicago area’s largest companies. In that capacity, she
assisted Chicago area government, the Chicago Board of Education, and the Chicago Transit Authority in strategic,
operational, financial and service improvements.
From 1989 to 1992, Froetscher was a founder and managing partner of Executive Options, an executive search firm that
she sold in 1992. From 1983 to 1989 she worked primarily for Bankers Trust Company. During her tenure as vice president
in the Corporate Finance area, Froetscher served in numerous capacities including managing multinational accounts, and
underwriting and syndicating highly leveraged transactions.
Last month Janet was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of 20 “Women to Watch.” She was also recognized by the
publication in 2004 and 1996 as one of “Chicago’s Most Influential Women.” In 1998, she was selected as one of 20 national
civic-minded leaders for the Aspen Institute’s Henry Crown Fellowship Program. Froetscher currently serves on several
boards including that of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
A resident of Glencoe, IL, Froetscher earned her Masters of Management degree with High Distinction from the Kellogg
Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University and holds a Bachelors degree with high distinction from the
University of Virginia.
Founded in 1913 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953, the National Safety Council is a nonprofit,
nongovernmental, international public service organization dedicated to preventing accidental injuries and deaths in
the workplace, on roadways, and in homes and communities. National Safety Council members include more than 50,000
businesses, labor organizations, schools, public agencies, private groups and individuals.
