Mary McGovern was an associate at the law firm of David Polk & Wardwell in New York from 1987-1991 in New York. She served as Executive Director of The Clean Air Campaign in Atlanta, Georgia from 2001-2003.

Since then she has volunteered as a fundraiser, grant writer, grant reviewer and evaluator with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including CareRing, Inc., Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, Women’s Impact Fund and Alliance for African Women Initiative. She served on the Women First Board of Directors (2014-2021) and as the organization’s President (2018-2021) as well as Special Director Emerita (2021-2022). Mary has a BCL degree from University College Dublin, an LLM from the University of London and a Barrister at Law degree from The Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin, Ireland.