Top Female Executives, Professionals & Entrepreneurs

Title: National Forest Fire Chief

Company: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Location: Grass Valley, Calf.

Having lead more than 2,400 firefighters and aircraft in a battle against a 90,000-acre wildfire in the rugged foothills north of Santa Barbara, Jeanne Pincha-Tulley retires as National Forest Fire Chief. It’s the kind of challenge she’s relished since 2005, when she was promoted to Incident Commander Type 1, in charge of California Interagency Incident Management Team 3. This elite, 70-member strike force of command, operations, planning, logistics and finance specialists is one of 17 such teams under Forest Service leadership on call nationwide to direct the response to major disasters. Ms. Pincha-Tulley chose this career path because she was interested in the profession. She pursued a college degree in forestry and realized that she loved it. Continue reading →