# Bernadette Meehan

CEO, Wikimedia Foundation. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Before running Wikipedia's nonprofit, she was a Wall Street banker, the White House's national security spokesperson and U.S. ambassador to Chile. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))

- Born: The Bronx, New York, U.S. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Education: BA, Political science, Boston College ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Career: Wikimedia Foundation (Chief Executive Officer, 2026 to now); U.S. Department of State (U.S. Ambassador to Chile, 2022–2025); Obama Foundation (Executive Vice President of Global Programs, 2017–2021); White House National Security Council (Spokesperson and Special Advisor to the President, 2012–2017); U.S. Department of State (Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, 2004–2012); Lehman Brothers (Vice President, Asset Management, 2003–2004); JPMorgan Chase (Vice President, Private Banking, 1997–2003) ([wikimediafoundation.org](https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/12/09/wikimedia-foundation-appoints-bernadette-meehan-as-chief-executive-officer/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadette-meehan-b6855511a))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/bernadette-meehan/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/bernadette-meehan

- Spent years on Wall Street as a vice president at JPMorgan and then Lehman Brothers before switching to the U.S. Foreign Service in 2004. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- At 16 she moved to Río Gallegos, at the southern tip of Argentina, as a high school exchange student. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- Was the White House National Security Council's spokesperson from 2012 to 2015, then helped plan Barack Obama's 2016 visit to Cuba. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Meehan))
- At J.P. Morgan she helped design one of the bank's first web-based client platforms. ([meta.wikimedia.org](https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:BMeehan-WMF))
- As ambassador to Chile she backed the Humboldt Cable, the first subsea cable linking South America with Asia. ([diff.wikimedia.org](https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/12/09/welcoming-the-wikimedia-foundations-new-ceo/))
- Says Wikipedia content is core to generative AI but often lacks clear attribution back to Wikimedia sites. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/wikipedia-operator-taps-former-us-ambassador-chile-ceo-role-2025-12-09/))