Maria Stone is a senior crisis management and business continuity leader with more than 20 years of experience helping global organizations prepare for and respond to complex operational disruptions.

Throughout her career, Maria has built and led enterprise crisis management and business continuity programs for several Fortune 500 organizations, including McDonald’s, Kenvue (formerly Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health), Abbott, United Airlines, and Archer Daniels Midland. Her experience spans multiple sectors — including food service, aviation, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture—supporting globally recognized brands operating in highly complex and regulated environments. She is a founding member of the Private Sector Intelligence Council.

Maria has designed and implemented world-class resilience programs and led organizational responses to a wide range of high-impact events, including complex geopolitical events across Europe and the Middle East, major cybersecurity incidents, global supply chain disruptions, natural disasters, and other large-scale emergencies.

In addition to her crisis management and business continuity expertise, Maria spent several years developing cybersecurity risk and preparedness programs, including building specialized cyber crisis response teams and strengthening organizational readiness for cyber-related crises. She is also experienced in integrating intelligence-led decision support into crisis response, drawing on her background in risk and protective intelligence to help leadership teams navigate rapidly evolving situations.

Maria holds an international law degree, a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. She received the Academy of Achievement Award from Illinois State University in recognition of her professional accomplishments.

For additional information, please visit Maria’s LinkedIn Profile.