Pamela Thomas-Graham (born Pamela A. Thomas on June 24 in Detroit, Michigan) is an African American businesswoman and corporate leader.[1] She is a senior executive at Credit Suisse, where she serves on the bank's 11-member Executive Board.
Thomas-Graham is a phi beta kappa graduate of Harvard University (B.A. Economics - magna cum laude), as well as a graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, where she served on the Harvard Law Review. She began her career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where she was a summer associate in the investment banking division while she was student at Harvard Business School. The first African American woman to become partner at McKinsey & Company, the international management consulting firm, Thomas-Graham served clients in the retail, media and financial services industries. She also served as President and CEO of CNBC where she led the $500 million network to become one of the most profitable cable TV properties in the nation. During her tenure, she hired such on-air talent as Jim Cramer, and she led the network to win its first Peabody Award with the Age of Wal-Mart documentary, the first of CNBC's longform documentaries. Thomas-Graham also served as Group President of Liz Claiborne where she headed a $1.5 billion business unit which included the flagship Liz Claiborne label and 17 other brands. Prior to her joining the company, the Liz Claiborne brand label had suffered 25 quarters of decline, but during her tenure, the label was re-energized and reached top-line sales growth. She has served as Managing Director in the private equity group of a major New York-based asset management firm. She has served on several boards including the Clorox Company, the New York City Opera, Parsons School of Design, and the Inner City Scholarship Fund.
She is the author of three books, Blue Blood, Orange Crushed, and A Darker Shade Of Crimson, published by Simon & Schuster. The books have been translated into German and Japanese. She also serves as a member of the Economic Club of New York, Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Secretary of State's Committee on Transformational Diplomacy. Thomas-Graham has been honored by the National Urban League, the Financial Women's Association, the NAACP and Ms. Magazine. She serves on the Visiting Committee at Harvard Business School and is a well-regarded expert on corporate management issues.
In 2010 she joined the Executive Board of Credit Suisse as Head Talent Development and Communication.
Thomas-Graham is married to Lawrence Otis Graham, a corporate and labor attorney and New York Times bestselling author of 14 books dealing with politics, business and culture.[1] They have three children and live in the New York City area.