Marsha Firestone

Marsha Larrie Sidel Firestone, Ph.D., a pioneering champion for women entrepreneurs and the founding force behind the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) and the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO), died peacefully on Sunday, December 7, 2025. She was 82. Born on May 13, 1943, in Mobile, Alabama, Marsha grew up in a family of entrepreneurs; her parents built a local chain of retail eyeglass stores. She earned her undergraduate degree from Newcomb College of Tulane University and later earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Long before women’s economic power was widely recognized, Marsha devoted her career to advancing it. In 1997, recognizing that women leading multimillion-dollar companies lacked a confidential, peer-level community, she founded the Women Presidents’ Organization. She later founded WPEO (now WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV) to expand access to corporate and government contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses. Under her leadership, WPO and WPEO became trusted communities for women business leaders worldwide.

A celebration of Dr. Firestone’s life will be held at 2:30pm on March 22 at Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Justin Firestone Memorial Fund or the Foundation of the WPO.

Marsha was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Monroe Firestone. She is survived by her son Daren Firestone; her grandchildren, Sasha and Aiden Hanrahan Firestone; and her daughter-in-law, Nicole Hanrahan. Her legacy lives on in the thousands of women whose lives and businesses were shaped by her vision.