Why I am a trustee:
I became a trustee nearly a decade ago at the time when the ratio of males to females on the Board was three to one. I hoped to bring my experience founding a woman-owned small business to the College community, especially our female students. Now that I’m here, I have grown to admire the College's mission and our faculty, staff and students.  I also value my work and relationships with my fellow trustees, who are extraordinary.

Graduated from (and year):
Hamline University, B.A. (1972)
University of Maryland, College Park, M.S. (1982) 

Profession:
President and CEO of The Starfish Group, a communications, public relations and marketing firm.  Also writing a memoir, “Unsinkable: The Perils of Pioneering, Parenting and Partnering”

When I was in college I studied:
I studied psychology as an undergraduate and political and health communications in graduate school.

Today I wish I had studied:
Just about everything: history, English literature, creative writing, music, anthropology, biology, (probably not math).  St. Mary's first year seminar courses intrigue me and I would like to enroll in all of them.

Favorite book:
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Favorite film:
Water by Deepa Mehta

Favorite cuisine:
Given the book and film choice I should say Indian but I like all the “I’s” -- Italian and Middle Eastern (Iraq, Iran).  Despite my Irish ancestors, Irish cuisine, well, not so much!

Role model:
Katherine Graham, Publisher of The Washington Post
Two of my favorite quotes:
"To love what you do and feel that it matters — how could anything be more fun?"
"The thing women must do to rise to power is to redefine their femininity. Once, power was considered a masculine attribute. In fact power has no sex."

Education/Career Advice for Students:
Do what you love and the money will follow.

Bio

Molly Mahoney Matthews has a distinguished 25-year career in marketing and public relations.  In 1987 she founded Matthews Media Group (MMG), an established market leader for developing and implementing social marketing and patient recruitment campaigns.  Leading MMG, she has been devoted to communications on health care and health issues by “creating messages that matter” for clients that include the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies.

The Washington Business Journal rated MMG among the top five public relations firms in the Washington, D.C. area.  PR Week ranks MMG in the top 35 public relations firms nationwide. In 2000, with a staff of over 150 and more than $20M in revenue, Diversified Agency Services (DAS), a division of Omnicom Group, Inc. and one of the world’s largest advertising and multimedia holding companies, acquired MMG.

In addition to her work with MMG, Matthews is the founder, president and chief executive officer of The Starfish Group, a collaborative public relations and media firm with expertise in health, environment and energy and educational issues. 

Prior to the establishment of MMG and The Starfish Group, Matthews directed public relations for Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. and served as an account executive at Porter, Novelli & Associates, a leading public relations firm.   Matthews is trained as a teacher and has taught students in grades kindergarten through senior high school and as an adjunct lecturer in communications, entrepreneurship, public relations, and social marketing/health promotion at The George Washington University and the University of Maryland.  She has also been a speaker and trainer for professional associations, government, and businesses clients.

Matthews is a lifelong educator committed to improving health care for all Americans, particularly minority and historically underserved populations. She was elected to the Leadership Washington Class of 2000 and serves as the board chair for The Children's Inn, a private, non-profit, family-centered residence for pediatric outpatients of the National Institutes of Health and their families.

Molly received a B.A. in education from Hamline University, and an M.A. in psychology from the University of Maryland.

 She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her family.