Cathy Engelbert

Catherine M. Engelbert (born November 14, 1964) is an American businesswoman who has served as the commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) since 2019. She previously served as the first female CEO of Deloitte.

Engelbert worked for Deloitte for 33 years and was elected as its CEO in 2015, becoming the first woman to lead a Big Four accounting firm. In 2019, she was named the commissioner of the WNBA and made headlines in the following year for creating the Wubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting player activism. Engelbert has led the league to rapid commercial growth, historic popularity, and its most significant expansion in history, but has faced criticism over player compensation. She has been ranked among the most powerful businesswomen in the world by Fortune magazine for her roles in the WNBA and Deloitte.^[1]

Engelbert grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey, with five brothers and two sisters. She attended Collingswood High School.^[2] She was inducted into the Collingswood Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.^[3] Her father Kurt was an IT manager, and her mother a medical practice administrator. Kurt Engelbert was a star basketball player at St. Joseph’s University (Phila.) and was drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Pistons in 1957.^[4] Engelbert graduated from Lehigh University in 1986, with a degree in accounting.

At Lehigh, she tried out for the basketball team as a walk-on under Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw, and later became a team captain.^[5] She also played lacrosse, and became a captain of that team as well.^[4] After graduation, she received her CPA certification and became a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.^[6][7]

Engelbert joined Deloitte in 1986 and made partner in 1998.^[8] A year before making partner she had decided to resign to pursue a career outside of professional services; two senior partners who saw her potential helped convince her to stay.^[9] As partner she held multiple leadership roles, serving on the Deloitte LLP board of directors and several committees, and in 2014 was appointed as CEO of the audit subsidiary Deloitte & Touche LLP.^[10][11]

In March 2015 Engelbert was elected CEO of Deloitte, becoming the first female U.S. CEO of a Big Four firm.^[12] News media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, highlighted Engelbert's appointment as cracking the "glass ceiling."^[13] In an interview, she credited Deloitte's early focus on supporting women in the workplace as being important for her career.^[14]

While serving as Deloitte's CEO, Engelbert made investments in technology and took steps to prioritize employee retention.^[15] During her tenure as CEO, Deloitte's revenue increased 30% to over $20 billion.^{[16][17][18][19]}

On May 15, 2019, Engelbert was named the first commissioner of the WNBA (previous WNBA leaders had been titled "president"). She officially assumed her new role on July 17, 2019.^[20] Engelbert has focused on growing the league, improving the player experience, building on corporate partnerships, and preparing for the renegotiation of the WNBA's media rights. She has presided over a significant expansion of the league, adding franchises in San Francisco, Portland, and Toronto, with future expansion franchises planned for Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia.^[21]

Engelbert faced criticism from players during negotiations for a new CBA in 2025, with the "central tension"^[22] being player compensation that lagged behind the league's revenue growth.^[22][23]

Engelbert is a member of The Business Council. She also serves on the boards of McDonald’s Corporation, Royalty Pharma, and Catalyst, and on the executive committee of the USGA.^[24]

Engelbert has two children, Julia and Thomas.^[13][25]