Ornella Barra

Ornella Barra was born on 20 December 1953{{Cite web |last=Felsted |first=Andrea |date=30 October 2011 |title=The cool chemist with health as a "hobby" |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fca27676-0153-11e1-ae24-00144feabdc0 |work=Financial Times}}According to Bloomberg Businessweek she was aged 57 when [https://web.archive.org/web/20121006054348/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=8675739&privcapId=873648&previousCapId=873648&previousTitle=Alliance%20Boots%20Holdings%20Limited her profile] was retrieved on 28 August 2010; Simon Bowers, [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/aug/05/executivepay.uknews3 ‘Unichem's low-key Ornella Barra’], The Guardian, 5 August 2005, describes her as 51.

in Chiavari, Genoa, northwest Italy,[http://www.ornellabarra.com/biography.html ‘Biography’], ornellabarra.com{{cite web|last=Felsted|first=Andrea|title=The cool chemist with health as a "hobby"|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fca27676-0153-11e1-ae24-00144feabdc0.html|work=Financial Times|publisher=The Financial Times Ltd|access-date=2 January 2014}} into a family of entrepreneurs.Simon Bowers, [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/aug/05/executivepay.uknews3 ‘Unichem's low-key Ornella Barra’], The Guardian, 5 August 2005. Ornella graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Genoa in 1979.

After building up a regional pharmaceutical distribution company, Di Pharma, she sold the business to Alleanza Salute Italia{{cite web|url=http://www.ifpw.com/2008gmm/bus_speakers.htm|title=Speaker Profiles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106024828/http://www.ifpw.com/2008gmm/bus_speakers.htm|archive-date=6 January 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=27 May 2010}} (now Alliance Healthcare Italia), a firm founded and managed by Italian entrepreneur Stefano Pessina. He and Barra became partners both personally and professionally.Harry Wallop [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2806572/Business-profile-A-recluse-who-keeps-making-the-headlines.html ‘Business profile: A recluse who keeps making the headlines’], The Telegraph, 31 March 2007. During this time, Barra also contributed{{how|date=May 2019}} to the creation of Alliance Santé, the Franco-Italian group with interests spanning Europe, and was made a board member in 1990.{{cite web|url=http://www.thepharmaletter.com/file/35943/unichem-farmaceuticaalliance-sante-merger.html|title=UniChem Farmaceutica/Alliance Sante merger|author=The Pharma Letter|access-date=2 January 2015}} Following Alliance Santé's merger with UniChem in 1997, she became a board member and executive director of Alliance Unichem.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/aug/05/executivepay.uknews3|title=Unichem's low-key Ornella Barra|author=Simon Bowers|work=The Guardian|date=4 August 2005|access-date=2 January 2015}}

Following the merger between Alliance UniChem and Boots plc and the creation of Alliance Boots, in 2012 she became the company's Chief Executive, Wholesale and Brands. Alliance Boots merged with Walgreens in 2014, to form Walgreens Boots Alliance, and integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader based in Deerfield, Illinois. Barra is currently the company's chief operating officer, international.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/08/4#:~:text=The%20proposed%20merger%20of%20Boots,19%25%20of%20the%20pharmacy%20market | title=Boots cleared to merge with Alliance Unichem | website=The Guardian | date=8 February 2006 }}{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150116005582/en/AmerisourceBergen-Elects-Ornella-Barra-to-Its-Board-of-Directors | title=AmerisourceBergen Elects Ornella Barra to Its Board of Directors | date=16 January 2015 }}{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/kkr-to-earn-big-payout-from-walgreen-alliance-boots-deal-1420068404 | title=KKR to Earn Big Payout from Walgreen-Alliance Boots Deal | newspaper=The Wall Street Journal | date=31 December 2014 | last1=Dezember | first1=Ryan }}{{cite web | url=https://www.walgreensbootsalliance.com/about-us/leadership-team/ornella-barra#:~:text=Ornella%20Barra%20is%20Chief%20Operating,wholesale%20operation%20in%20Germany%20and | title=Ornella Barra | date=10 January 2020 }}

Barra is an honorary professor{{cite web | url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Ornella-list-powerful-women/story-13481270-detail/story.html | title=Ornella on list of powerful women | work=Nottingham Post| date= 5 October 2011| access-date=23 April 2015}} at the University of Nottingham's School of Pharmacy, where she lectures on the internationalisation of pharmacy business and issues of corporate social responsibility.{{cite web|url=http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Pharmacy/News/OrnellaBarra.aspx|title=Ornella Barra is named in Fortune magazine's top 50 women in business|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202041444/http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pharmacy/news/ornellabarra.aspx|archive-date=2 December 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=25 November 2010}}

Barra founded, and is an executive director of the European Pharmacists Forum.{{cite web|url=http://www.europeanpharmacistsforum.com/html/en/epfOverview/epfOverview.html|title=EPF Overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225074518/http://www.europeanpharmacistsforum.com/html/en/epfOverview/epfOverview.html|archive-date=25 December 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2010}} She is a member of the board of directors of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (IFPW), and became chairman in October 2014.{{cite web|title=IFPW|url=http://www.ifpw.com/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117042229/http://www.ifpw.com/index.html|archive-date=17 January 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=27 May 2010}} She was president of Associazione Distributori Farmaceutici (ADF) (association of pharmaceutical distributors) from 2006 to 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.adfsalute.it/presentazione/comitatopresidenza.asp|title=COMITATO DI PRESIDENZA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223111707/http://www.adfsalute.it/presentazione/comitatopresidenza.asp|archive-date=23 February 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=27 May 2010}} She became an executive member of ECR Europe (Efficient Consumer Response) in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://ecr-all.org/about-ecr-europe/organisation-and-principles/executive-board/|title=Executive Board|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129091212/http://ecr-all.org/about-ecr-europe/organisation-and-principles/executive-board/|archive-date=29 January 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=27 May 2010}}

Ornella Barra was ranked 5th in the 2015 "Fortune Most Powerful Women" in business among female executives in Europe, Middle East and Africa.{{cite web | url=https://fortune.com/most-powerful-women-europe-middle-east-africa/2015/ornella-barra/ | title=Ornella Barra }}

From 2013 to 2019 Barra was a member of the board of directors of Assicurazioni Generali.{{cite news |title=Generali, conferma per Donnet e Galateri. "Il dividendo salirà ma con meno pay-out" |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/finanza-e-mercati/2019-05-07/generali-ceo-donnet-soci-con-piano-2021-faremo-ancora-meglio-100340.shtml?uuid=ABJaYxuB/ |work=Il Sole 24 Ore |date=7 May 2019}}

File:Ornella Barra in London "Boots" shop.jpg

Barra is a member of the board of directors of AmerisourceBergen since January 2015.{{cite web|url=https://wwd.com/feature/ornella-barra-elected-to-amerisourcebergen-board-of-directors-8120154-2194003/|title=Ornella Barra Elected to AmerisourceBergen Board of Directors|date=19 January 2015|website=Women's Wear Daily|access-date=10 December 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://investor.amerisourcebergen.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors|title=Board of Directors – AmerisourceBergen Corporation|website=AmerisourceBergen Corporation|access-date=18 September 2018}}

She is married to the Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.ornellabarra.com/ Official website]

{{Alliance Boots}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barra, Ornella}}

Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Chiavari

Category:Italian expatriates in Monaco

Category:Italian pharmacists

Category:Italian businesspeople

Category:People associated with the University of Nottingham

Category:Walgreens people