Hard work, determination and never straying from her values has led Cathy Northington to the position of Chief Operating Officer of the Mississippi Economic Council – the state’s largest broad-based business organization.

The values were instilled by her grandmother, who raised her to understand you must be a good steward of the gifts God has given you. Cathy’s Grandmother would always say “Cathy, to whom much is given much is required.”

The determination is evident in her career path, which began at MEC as part-time support staff in 2003. She then served in a variety of leadership roles within the organization, leading to her being named COO in March of 2018.

The hard work allowed her to enhance her own career, however, she also understands true success is judged by assuring those around her achieve their goals. She is a catalyst for positive change and achievement for the entire MEC team and serves as a mentor to younger team members working on MEC’s most important projects. Cathy and her team stage three major events each year – the MEC Annual Meeting, with over 2,000 attendees and MEC Hobnob and MEC CapitalDay, which draw between 1,500and 1,700 attendees.

Additionally, she and her team are responsible for the very high profile Leadership Mississippi program, which provides leaders from companies across Mississippi the skills necessary to serve their communities and state.

Cathy is a graduate of the respected Institute for Organization Management program, an intensive four-year nonprofit leadership training program conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and held at the University of Georgia.

This executive goes beyond the scope of her job to become a part of the fabric of each region of the State. Northington volunteers her time with multiple organizations, including the Junior League of Jackson, United Way of the Capitol Area and the Real Foundation.

She has been recognized as Savvy Magazine’s 2016 Leader of Year, Our Mississippi Magazine’s 2018 Business Woman of the Year, the Women’s Fund 2018 Business Woman of the Year, a Mississippi Business Journal’s 2014 Fifty Leading Business Woman and received the US National Guard Merit Award.

Cathy enjoys traveling and spending time her kids Matt, Courtland and Jordan.