CEOs of the Fortune 500 are overwhelmingly White, straight, and male. Women, women of color, women born outside of the United States, and LGBTQ+ women are underrepresented.
Catalyst places a high value on an individual’s freedom to self-identify and understands that, outside of this self-identification, there will be difficulty in precisely verifying an individual’s race, ethnicity, and gender identity. Therefore, this data may be incomplete, and Catalyst is unable to provide specific data points around women CEOs from underrepresented groups. However, our collection includes examples from reliable news sources that detail women CEOs of the Fortune 500, past and present.
- Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreen Boots Alliance since 2021, is the third-ever Black woman (and the second on a permanent basis) to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA since 2021, is the fourth-ever Black woman (and the third on a permanent basis) to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox Corporation from 2009–2017, was the first Black woman to ever serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon Products from 1999–2011, is of Asian descent.
- Reshma Kewalramani, CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo from 2006–2018, was born in India.
- Laura Sen, CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club from 2009–2016, is multiracial, of Irish and Chinese descent.
- Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices since 2014, was born in Taiwan.
- Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc. since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Joey Wat, CEO of Yum China Holdings since 2017, was born in China.
- Geisha Williams, CEO of PG&E from 2017–2019, was the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Mary Winston, Interim CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond from May 2019–November 2019, was the second Black woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) CEOs are also extremely rare.
- Beth Ford, CEO of Land O’Lakes since August 1, 2018, is the first openly gay woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
- Sue Y. Nabi, CEO of Coty since 2020, is a transgender woman leading a Fortune 500 company.
Current women of color who are CEOs of the S&P 500 include:
- Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreen Boots Alliance since 2021, is a Black woman.
- Shar Dubey, CEO of Match Group since 2020, is Indian-American.
- Reshma Kewalramani, CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices since 2014, was born in Taiwan.
- Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc. since 2020, is of Indian descent.
- Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks, Inc. since 2008, is Indian-American.
How to cite this product: Catalyst, CEOs in Underrepresented Groups (March 29, 2022).