HRExaminer Executive Conversations with Laura Baldwin | Nov 20, 2020 - 8 AM

Laura Baldwin began working with O’Reilly Media in October 2001 as Chief Financial Officer and added Chief Operating Officer to her responsibilities in October 2004. She became O’Reilly’s first President in March 2011 and is currently responsible for O’Reilly’s businesses worldwide. Prior to O’Reilly, she was a consultant to the publishing industry through BMR Associates, and managed several large consulting engagements across all genres of publishing and media. Laura’s media career started at Chronicle Books, the publisher of popular culture, art, and children’s books as well as gift products, where she served as CFO for ten years, establishing Chronicle’s successful distribution business and helping to launch Chronicle’s Gift Business. Exposure to Chronicle Publishings’s diverse media properties, including TV stations and newspapers, ignited Laura’s passion for the media business. Laura has worked in banking as well as in corporate governance, holding positions in worldwide cash management and corporate finance. She attributes much of her success to the all-girls high school she attended, where she was taught that leadership is available to anyone who demonstrates initiative and drive regardless of their gender. She brings that philosophy to O’Reilly, where she helped to create a diversity scholarship program and continues to advocate for an inclusive and open workforce.