Mary Washington alumna, former CNN executive to speak on career burnout Feb. 1

Career burnout can happen to any professional. Former CNN, Warner Bros. and Discovery executive Lisa Greene knows about burnout.

In her role leading human resources at corporate giant companies, the 1991 University of Mary Washington graduate learned how to anticipate a crisis and how to help thousands maneuver through.

“We all experience stress; there’s no way you can avoid stress,” said Greene, who will return to UMW tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the Hurley Convergence Center Digital Auditorium to give a free public lecture. “Burnout is something much more chronic, where you’re really out of alignment with what you truly want to be doing. It starts to wear you down.”

“Not This: A Tale of Burnout” was originally scheduled for fall 2023. Greene now leads her own company based in Connecticut and looks back on times of burnout such as in 2020 when she led CNN through an election year and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, February 1 she will share with students, faculty and community members how she uses lessons now that she learned while a psychology major at UMW, and how her education enables her to do what she loves, which is executive coaching and short-term consulting.

Greene is UMW’s 2023-24 Psychology Graduate-in-Residence, and during her visit she will present to classes and speak with students about her work in human resources.

“It starts with awareness and really taking the time to understand how you’re feeling and why you’re feeling that way,” Greene said. “If a college student could learn early on to be mindful of some of the ways I got to that point, they might be able to avoid getting there in their own careers.”

UMW, founded in 1908, offers a liberal arts education at 1301 College Ave., Fredericksburg, Virginia.