C200 Recognizes Ann Drake for Entrepreneurial Achievements

October 25, 20182 minute read

Ann Drake, founder of AWESOME, Chairman of the DSC Logistics Advisory Board and CEO of DSC from 1994 to 2018, has been named the recipient of C200’s Entrepreneurial Champion Award for 2018. C200 (Committee of 200) is the prestigious global organization of leading women executives and entrepreneurs across all professions and industries.

According to C200, Ann and the recipients in three other award categories are credited with achieving C200’s mission – to support and empower women in business — and each has had a profound impact in their respective fields.

The women were honored at the Luminary Awards Luncheon at the 2018 C200 Conference on October 18 in Texas.

In her introduction of Ann at the event, Joanna Drake, Ann’s stepdaughter and a C200 member, described how she “worked courageously, tirelessly, and ultimately heroically to transform the dry storage warehousing company that her father Jim McIlrath founded in 1959 into the industry logistics leader it is today.”

“In the last 10 years she has taken DSC Logistics from less than $100M to more than $500M revenues, and overcome many, many, many mountains to achieve healthy profitability in a brutally low margin industry, and she has built a world class collaborative team.”

Joanna also commented on Ann’s commitment to women’s leadership, saying “she has somehow figured out how to scale herself into a tireless champion of women in her company, her industry, and across all of her female networks.”

The other 2018 Luminary Award recipients are Kate Gutmann, Chief Sales and Solutions Officer for UPS; Dr. Ilham Kadri, President and CEO of Diversey, Inc.; and, Jennifer Sampson, McDermott-Templeton, President and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.