How much influence do female leaders have in North Carolina’s major businesses? That unanswerable, hypothetical question drove our feature profiling 25 executives who have prominent positions at thriving Tar Heel enterprises. It’s an important topic for obvious reasons:
- Women have enormous influence in the business world.
- There’s widespread concern whether that influence is growing, plateauing or declining.
- Any “friction” that inhibits the influence of women from blossoming is counterproductive.
- Societal progress in North Carolina and globally requires contributions from all, no matter one’s race or gender.
We assembled this impressive list of top performers by asking readers for nominations and through staff reporting. We didn’t include leaders from academia or politics.
Few major N.C. companies have female CEOs, this report shows. Hence, the recent departure of A-list leaders such as Duke Energy’s Lynn Good is notable. In April, Harry Sideris succeeded Good, who had been CEO for nearly 12 years.
Readers can arrive at their own answers to our opening question. But these profiles provide key glimpses of remarkable careers and effective leadership styles.
We’re appreciative of the leaders who participated in this report.
Click here for the complete stories on all of the 2026 N.C. Powerful Women
Feature: Cristy Page CEO, Dean | UNC Health, UNC School of Medicine Chapel Hill
Feature: Kristin Lesher Chief wholesale banking officer | Truist Charlotte
Dionne Nelson Founder, CEO | Laurel Street Charlotte
Kendal Bowman President | Duke Energy North Carolina Charlotte
Tammy DeBoer President | Harris Teeter Matthews
Neenu Kainth Chief customer experience officer | Enact Mortgage Insurance Raleigh
Morgan Everett Vice chair | Coca-Cola Consolidated Charlotte
Melissa Anderson Chief business transformation officer | Albemarle Corporation Charlotte
Hope Holding Bryant Vice chairman | First Citizens Bancshares Raleigh
Allison Farmer CEO | EmergeOrtho Durham
Karin De Bondt Chief strategy officer | Trane Technologies Davidson
Laura Niklason Founder, CEO | Humacyte Durham
Lynn Bamford CEO | Curtiss-Wright Corporation Davidson
Kristi Coleman CEO | Tepper Sports and Entertainment & Carolina Panthers Charlotte
Kristin D. Sodoma President | Team Automotive Group Charlotte
Seemanti Godbole Chief digital officer | Lowe’s Mooresville
Kathie Niven CEO | Biscuitville Greensboro
Cindy Eckert Founder, CEO | Sprout Pharmaceuticals Raleigh
Shelly Cayette-Weston President | Hornets Sports & Entertainment Charlotte
Anita Bachmann CEO | UnitedHealthcare Community Plans North Carolina market
Elizabeth Bostian Chief financial officer | First Bank Greensboro
Sandra van der Vaart Chief legal officer | Labcorp Raleigh
Dawn-Marie Hutchinson Chief information officer | Reynolds American Winston-Salem
Michelle Thompson CEO | Cherry Bekaert Raleigh
Kris Carroll President | Grady-White Boats Greenville
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.