| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Patricia Miller
Business Advisor
Co-President & Co-Founder, Vera Bradley Designs, Inc.
Former Secretary of Commerce for Indiana
From co-founding an internationally recognized fashion design company, to becoming Indiana’s first Secretary of Commerce, Patricia Miller is a respected community and business leader and active philanthropist.
After recognizing the lack of fashionable women’s luggage while in an Atlanta airport with friend and neighbor, Barbara Baekgaard, the two set off to create Vera Bradley. Today, the global company employs over 200 people, maintains 3,500 retailers and enjoys a net income of over $100M annually. In 1994, Mrs. Miller and her business partner established the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer after losing a close friend. To date, the Foundation has contributed nearly $8M to the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center and has been a major supporter of cancer research at the IU School of Medicine. The Foundation also provided for the establishment of the Vera Bradley Chair in oncology. In 1997, she was named both the Indiana Business Leader of the Year and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year. In 2005, Mrs. Miller took a leave of absence from Vera Bradley to serve as Indiana’s first Secretary of Commerce and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC).
Mrs. Miller received her bachelor’s degree in Education from Indiana University, and has served as a board member on more than 15 companies and organizations. She and her husband, Mike, enjoy golf, tennis, bicycling, traveling, reading, lake activities, and spending time with their three sons, five grandchildren and their families.
