Speaking of people

RONALD A. WILLIAMS is the first Black CEO of Aetna Inc., one of the nation's largest health insurers. Williams joined Aetna as executive vice president and chief of health operations in 2001, and was named president in the spring of 2002. He joined the board of directors in the fall of 2002. He is active on several boards and councils outside of Aetna, including the board of directors of Lucent Technologies Inc. and the board of trustees of the Conference Board. He also sits on the Dean's Advisory Council and the Corporate Visiting Committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and serves as an elected member of MIT's Alfred P. Sloan Management Society. Prior to Aetna, Williams served as group president of the large group division of WellPoint Health Networks and president of WellPoint's Blue Cross of California subsidiary. He received a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a master's degree in management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A resident of Connecticut, he is married and has a son.

JIMMIE WALTON PASCHALL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA

JIMMIE WALTON PASCHALL is vice president of external affairs of Volunteers of America, one of the nation's largest charities based on revenue. With a budget of $811 million, the organization employs 15,000 people nationwide and has more than 95,000 volunteers. Paschall provides strategic leadership and vision for the group's communications and marketing activities, helping to shape its public policy, and government relations strategies and optimize the support of other groups through fund-raising and volunteer initiatives. Prior to joining Volunteers of America, Paschall was vice president and chief human resources officer for XO Communications, a $1.2 billion telecommunications company in Reston, Va. Active on several boards throughout her career, she currently serves on the board of directors of Generations United, a national membership organization focused on improving the lives of children, youth and adults through intergenerational strategies, programs and public policies. She has a bachelor's degree in communications from Howard University. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband Matthew, a 9-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

MARSHA E. WILLIAMS SENIOR VP OF RESEARCH & PLANNING, NICKELODEON NETWORKS

MARSHA E. WILLIAMS is senior vice president of research and planning at Nickelodeon Networks. She is responsible for managing the consumer insights group for Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., which involves developing research for all branding, programming and production and merchandising. She also co-leads Nickelodeon's research department, which involves overseeing programming and advertising sales research for Nickelodeon and digital channels Noggin, The N and Nicktoons Network. Prior to joining Nickelodeon in 1996, Williams spent five years at Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), where she managed research initiatives on Ghostwriter and various Sesame Street-based public service programs. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and English from Connecticut College and a master's degree in psychology from Washington University. She studied developmental psychology at the doctorate level at Cornell University. She resides in New York City.

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