Sheila Gallagher

Class of 1985
Mosier, Oregon

Sheila hails from Long Lake, Minnesota and from the moment she stepped foot on campus in the fall of 1981, she was busy.  She wrote for the Pioneer Log, worked as a Resident Assistant in Howard, played club lacrosse and spent a semester in New York City with L&C’s program.  Sheila also earned four varsity letters on the women’s soccer team. 

After graduating in 1985, Sheila spent time traveling through Europe and working for the City of Portland before landing a position at General Mills, Inc. While General Mills is headquartered in Minneapolis, Sheila started in a sales position located in the Northwest. After several moves across the country to cities including Seattle, Portland and Cincinnati, Sheila and her family settled in Minneapolis and she held a variety of positions at General Mills in sales, marketing, finance and general management. Despite not having an MBA or a business degree, Sheila was able to leverage her liberal arts education into a successful executive. Named a director in 1998, Sheila ran several organizations in the Retail Division as well as the Foodservice Division.  An important legacy Sheila left at General Mills was the dedication and involvement in mentoring and developing young women in the corporate world. For ten years, she participated in MENTTIUM as a mentor for young women from many different companies. She was also both a formal and informal mentor for women within General Mills.

After 26 years at General Mills, Sheila “retired” from corporate life as a Vice President - Sales and Business Development for the Foodservice Division and has embarked on the next “chapter” of her life.

Splitting her time between Minneapolis and Hood River, Sheila is engaged in many volunteer activities as well as private consulting for the food industry. In addition to being active with her alma mater, Sheila is a “Big Sister”, a Reader for the SMART Program (Start Making a Reader Today), a volunteer at the Columbia Center for the Arts, and actively involved in local and national politics.

Easy access to abundant outdoor activities was one of the things that brought Sheila back to the Pacific Northwest after retiring from General Mills.  Stand up paddle boarding, hiking, biking, and yoga all keep her busy…and she still plays soccer! (Although soccer retirement may soon be on the horizon as well). Also an active traveler, she recently returned from a cultural exchange to Cuba in February 2015 and has enjoyed NW outdoor trips including climbing Mt. St. Helen’s and rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in 2015.

Sheila has twin boys, Patrick and Ryan who are young adults. Ryan lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and Patrick lives in Bloomington, Indiana.