Ilene Gordon and Bram Bluestein

Ilene Gordon is a seasoned American business executive who served as CEO of Ingredion, a Fortune 500 food company, which, at the time, made Gordon one of only 24 women who were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Gordon was named five times to Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” U.S. list, and twice to Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women in Business” international list.

As former CEO and chairman of Ingredion, a Fortune 500 food ingredient manufacturer, Gordon’s career was defined by breaking barriers and transforming the food industry for the better. She was responsible for leading the company from $3.9 billion to nearly $6 billion in sales from 2009 to 2017. Previously, she was president and CEO of Alcan Packaging, a $6.5 billion global packaging business based in Paris, France. Gordon spent the first 17 years of her corporate career in executive roles of increasing responsibility at the Packaging Corporation of America, a division of Tenneco Inc., and at Signode, a leading global packaging company specializing in materials handling. She started her working life at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a strategy consultant based in the Boston, London, and Chicago offices. Currently, Gordon is the presiding director of International Paper, a director of Lockheed Martin, and a member of the public board of IFF (International Flavors and Fragrances). She is also a board member as a past chairman of the board of The Economic Club of Chicago and on the executive board Americas of MIT Sloan School of Management. Gordon also sits on the investment committees for her daughter’s and son’s firms, BEA Real Estate and Bluestein Ventures, respectively. Gordon holds a B.S in mathematics, Phi Beta Kappa, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass., and an M.S. in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Bram Bluestein held senior leadership positions at several of the most respected consulting firms in the world, including Boston Consulting Group, Kearney, and Booz Allen Hamilton. During his stellar 40-year career as a management consultant, Bluestein helped companies across many industries transform their businesses. As a senior partner at A.T. Kearney, Bluestein led the global industry practices for Kearney and EDS Solutions Consulting and developed the textbook on account management while leading the firm’s largest account team. As a senior partner at Booz Allen, Bluestein led the global automotive practice and advised clients in the U.S. and around the world. He started his consulting career at the Boston Consulting Group, working in the Boston, Johannesburg, London, and Chicago offices. After his consulting years, Bluestein was involved in building McNally Capital, enabling family offices to capitalize on opportunities in the private equity space. In 2009, he co-founded, with his son, Andrew, Bluestein Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in the future of food. He is also an advisor to his daughter, Emily’s, real-estate and property-management firm, BEA Real Estate. Bluestein received a B.S. in Chemistry from Lafayette College and holds an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Prior to starting his consulting career, Bluestein served in the U.S. Army and worked at the Federal Trade Commission.

In October 2021, Ms.Gordon and Bram Bluestein, her husband of 42 years, published their first book, Doubling Down: The Secret Sauce for Dual-Career Families, in which they share their winning strategy for juggling two high-impact careers, marriage, and child-rearing.

Gordon’s and Bluestein’s respective high-impact success in the global business world notwithstanding, the couple affirms that their greatest accomplishments are their happy marriage and their two happy, successful children.