Since 2002 Neil Portnow has been the Recording Academy President, but recently he stepped down and Deborah Dugan took his place. She is the CEO of RED, a non-profit that helps with the AIDs crisis and is now the CEO of Recording Academy. She was an Exec at Capitol Records for eight years and started her career as an attorney. Portnow stepped down in 2018 and told Billboard, “The evolution of industries, institutions and organizations is ultimately the key to their relevance, longevity, and success.”

According to Pitchfork, Neil made comments during the Grammy’s which made many people ask him to step down. He stated that women would need to “step up” if they wanted to be in the music industry which undermines the hard-work that many women put into their music. Vanessa Carlton, an American Singer initiated a petition for his resignation. Portnow eventually stepped down and apologized for his comments, stating that it was not his intent and that his comments were misunderstood. When Portnow stepped down, a woman did step up to his role and is now the President of Recording Academy.