Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that its Board of Directors has named Eduardo Conrado and Elaine Mendoza as candidates to join the Board. Both Conrado and Mendoza, along with the other Board nominees, will be on the ballot at the 2023 Annual Shareholders Meeting. Conrado and Mendoza are being considered to succeed current Board members John Denison and Nancy Loeffler who have announced they will not stand for re-election to the Board.
Conrado is the President of Ascension, the nation 's largest non-profit health system. Prior to serving in the role of President at Ascension, Conrado was Executive Vice President—Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, where he managed a $1.2 billion technology budget and oversaw multiple organizations. Before joining Ascension, Conrado was Executive Vice President—Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Motorola Solutions, Inc., where he held multiple Leadership roles over seven years and provided leadership throughout Motorola 's digital transformation strategy, redefining of IT strategy and structure, and transformation of digital companywide architecture. Conrado is currently on the board of directors of ArcBest Corporation (Nasdaq: ARBC), and he has also served on the board of directors for Ascension and the Chicago Red Cross.
Conrado received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering–Operations Management from Texas Tech University, and he holds a Master of Business Administration in International Finance from ESADE, in Barcelona, Spain.
Mendoza is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Conceptual MindWorks, Inc., an informatics company she founded in 1990 that specializes in providing health-related software and medical informatics to the private sector. In addition to founding Conceptual MindWorks, Inc., Mendoza has contributed to establishing several innovative community efforts which are focused on increasing educational opportunities for young people. Such organizations include Pre-K 4 SA, UP Partnership and The Holdsworth Center.
Mendoza is on the board of directors for Rush Enterprises, Inc. and Texas Partners Bank. This Spring, Mendoza will complete a 12-year term on the Board of Regents for Texas A&M University System, where she served as Chairman from May 2019 to June 2021—and was the second woman and the first Hispanic to serve in that position. She also served as Chair on the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs from 2011-2019.
Mendoza earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University, as well as a CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon and the Digital Directors Network Systemic Cyber Risk Governance for Corporate Directors. She completed the Advanced Minority Business Executive Program at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
"Eduardo is an accomplished and visionary executive with a wealth of global experience leading the definition, implementation, and execution of innovative business and digital transformation strategies that have transformed performance and improved revenue in multi-billion dollar matrix organizations, " said Gary Kelly, Executive Chairman of the Board for Southwest Airlines. "Elaine brings experience in cybersecurity, business transformation, and software product development, a data-driven approach to meeting challenges with proactive financial forecasting and planning, and executing difficult decisions to meet long-term goals. Both bring valuable experience as leaders and in their work advising boards on several critical issues in today 's environment, including areas across Technology, customer experience, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and finance. Eduardo and Elaine's unique thoughts, perspectives, and experience will be wonderful additions to our talented Board of Directors. On behalf of the Board, I 'd also like to pay tribute to John and Nancy for their tremendous contributions. They have served us tirelessly for over 15 and 20 years, respectively, with John chairing the Safety and Compliance Committee since its inception in 2009. We have been fortunate to have them as our colleagues, and they will be sorely missed. "
