Paula A. Sneed

Paula A. Sneed is the chairperson and CEO of Phelps Prescott Group LLC (PPG), a strategy and management consultancy she co-founded in 2007. PPG couples strategic, operational, and organizational consulting and executive coaching with hands-on implementation support to help high performing not for profit organizations refocus, remove barriers, and accelerate their success.

Paula spent almost 30 years at General Foods and Kraft Foods in various marketing, general management, and senior executive roles. For half of her career, she was a member of the companies’ senior executive teams. As the Chief Marketing Officer, Executive Vice President and President of two operating divisions, Executive Vice President of the eCommerce Division, and Executive Vice President, Global Marketing Resources and Initiatives, Paula led teams that grew the companies’ iconic brands. 

She is a director of the Charles Schwab Corporation. She is the chair of the board of Family Independence Initiative and the New Schools Venture Fund and is a board member of The Surge Institute. Previously, she was a founding partner of Social Venture Partners-Chicago and was a charter member of its board. She is a former director of Hercules Inc., Airgas Inc.., Berry Global Inc., Communispace Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., Teach For America national and Chicago regional boards, Right To Play, Turnaround For Children, and the American Marketing Association. She is also a former trustee of Simmons College, Chicago Children’s Museum, and Illinois Institute of Technology, and a former Harvard Business School Visiting Committee member. 

Paula’s commitment to civil rights, political activism, community, and nonprofit service was nurtured by her parents and fueled by exposure to national and local civil rights leaders and social activists during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. An activist in college, Paula spent her first six years after graduating working in addiction, health care, and social service programs in Boston. A lifelong volunteer, mentor, advisor, and coach to students and young adults, Paula’s nonprofit board service spans almost 50 years. 

Paula earned a BA from Simmons College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She received an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Johnson and Wales University. She has been recognized for her leadership and accomplishments by Fortune, Black Enterprise, Working Mother, Ebony Magazines, and numerous business and civic organizations. 

Paula has been married for over 40 years to Lawrence P. Bass, an electrical engineer and retired entrepreneur, who after retirement, taught physics and engineering in inner-city Chicago Public High Schools for six years. Paula and Lawrence moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2016.