Julie Smolyansky

Julie Smolyansky (born 1975) is a Ukrainian-American businesswoman. She is the CEO of Illinois-based dairy company Lifeway Foods.

Life and career

Smolyansky was born in Kyiv, Ukraine (then Ukrainian SSR), to Jewish parents Ludmila and Michael Smolyansky. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was one.[1]

Smolyansky earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1996.[2]

Her father founded the Kefir company Lifeway Foods in 1986.[3] In 1997, Smolyansky joined the business. After he died of a heart attack in 2002,[4] Julie, aged 27, became the youngest CEO of a publicly traded firm.[5] She, along with her brother as CFO, transformed the company into a multinational firm, growing its revenue from $12 million to $130 million in 2015.[6]

Smolyansky was featured on Fortune's 2014 40 under 40 list.[7]

Philanthropy

Smolyansky has served on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

Smolyansky has been active in the conversation about sexual violence. She has supported several documentaries covering the violence against girls in Muslim-majority countries.[8] She is also the co-founder of Test400k which is a non-profit dedicated to eliminating the backlog of 400,000 untested rape kits in the U.S. and stop violence against women.[9]

References
  1. Samuelson, Kristin (September 26, 2011). "Office space: CEO of Lifeway Foods Inc". Chicago Tribune.
  2. "Julie Smolyansky". United Nations Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. SEC filing, Lifeway Foods Inc, 31 December 1999
  4. Business Wire, 11 June 2002, Lifeway Foods Announces Death of President Michael Smolyansky; Board Appoints Julie Smolyansky as Successor.
  5. Gerdes, Lindsey (July 1, 2004). "Dairy Queen Julie Smolyansky, head of Lifeway Foods (#38), is fermenting big things at the firm her father founded". Fortune Small Business.
  6. Strauss, Karsten (June 29, 2014). "Women, Leadership, Matt Lauer And Taking Over A Family Business: Julie Smolyansky Sounds Off". Forbes.
  7. "Julie Smolyansky". 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  8. ""Putting My Pregnancy Photos Out There Was A Big Deal": Julie Smolyansky". 2014-10-14. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  9. "Lifeway CEO: I Was On Stage With Lady Gaga at the Oscars". Fortune. 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
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