Dr. Betty N. Carew is the founder and CEO of the Betty Carew Foundation. She is an accomplished executive, business strategist, and marketing leader, currently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of ADsource, a premier full-service advertising and marketing agency. In this role, she leads high-performing teams that partner with CEOs, CMOs, senior marketing executives, and business owners to enhance market reach, elevate brand visibility, and accelerate business growth through innovative, data-driven marketing strategies. She is responsible for setting and executing the agency’s strategic vision, driving organizational performance, and fostering client success.
With nearly three decades of experience at 3M Corporation, Dr. Carew is a highly respected marketing and business growth strategist. During her tenure at 3M, she held executive roles spanning global marketing, business development, sales, and Lean Six Sigma operations, earning Master Black Belt certification. As a certified Master Black Belt (MBB), she led major continuous improvement initiatives across business units and industries. Known for her strategic foresight, operational rigor, and customer-centric approach, she has consistently delivered transformational results and scalable growth solutions in complex, dynamic markets.
Dr. Carew holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, an MBA with a specialization in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in Finance from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her academic and professional journey reflects a lifelong dedication to excellence, strategic impact, and empowering others.
Her commitment to leadership extends to her service on the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association (Florida Chapter), where she champions innovation, inclusion, and professional development. Additionally, Dr. Carew previously served as the Vice President of Marketing Programs for the American Marketing Association (Indiana Chapter).
Her humble beginnings inspired Betty’s motivation to develop the Betty Carew Foundation. She was living amid poverty in Kissy, Sierra Leone, West Africa, and seeing first-hand the victims of poverty in any developing country (women and children). Betty was born into a philanthropic family; it started with her grandfather, a bishop in the United Methodist Church, who dedicated his life to ensuring he raised as many people as possible out of poverty in Kissy, Sierra Leone. Betty’s grandmother was also very active in the United Methodist Church. She devoted her life to empowering women and providing vocational training skills so that women could care for themselves and their families. She died on active duty, returning from a women’s development conference. The Betty Carew United Women’s Training Center was created by the United Methodist Church in 1971 in her memory.
The training center has existed for over 50 years, elevating marginalized women through educational development. The center was originally established in Yonibana, Sierra Leone. However, during the Sierra Leone civil war in 1991, thousands left their homes to flee for safety in Freetown (a city in Sierra Leone). Among the most vulnerable were women and children who were raped, with hands and arms amputated by the war rebels. Young women & mothers ended up in the streets of Freetown without any education or skill, leaving them with no way to provide sustainable care for their children. Today, we can see the devastating impact of the civil war on the lives of these young girls, their families, and the community. The Betty Carew Women’s Training Center now exists in Freetown to address the overwhelming need for training and development programs that empower these young women within their communities.