Anne Devereux-Mills is a seasoned connector, speaker, author and advocate

Anne spent the first half of her career building and running advertising agencies in NYC as Chairman and CEO. When hit with the triple threat of progressing cancer, an empty nest and an unexpected job loss, she took time to reassess her career trajectory and hierarchy of needs. In 2012, long before the #MeToo movement, she founded Parlay House, a salon-style series of gatherings which now includes over 5,000 women across the US, Europe and the Middle East. Parlay House’s objective is to provide thought-provoking content and a safe space for women to have intimate and authentic conversations that don’t happen in other aspects of their lives, and to connect with women outside their traditional social, demographic and career-influenced circles.

Her commitment to issues related to inclusion and empowerment run deep. Beyond Parlay House, Anne is a mentor for SHE-CAN, an organization supporting and grooming the next generation of female world leaders coming from post-genocide countries. An activist on issues related to social justice, Anne was a key member of the team that helped pass California’s Proposition 36, which brought fair sentencing to thousands of non-violent inmates as part of California’s Three Strikes reform. Following that victory, she was the Executive Producer for the Emmy-nominated documentary film entitled, The Return and is currently Executive Producing Mississippi Red. Anne supported Stanford University by serving as the Executive Director of Healthy Body Image Programs. Anne also helped launch the iHUG Foundation, a not-for-profit school in Uganda supporting some of that nation’s most needy children.

Prior to her philanthropic ventures, Anne was Chief Integration Officer at BBDO and Managing Director of their highly successful healthcare unit. She then became Chairman and CEO of LLNS and TBWA/WorldHealth. She also served as CEO of Consumer Healthworks, a division of Merkley and Partners, as well as President of Harrison & Star.