Going through the Forbes’ List of “The World’s Most Powerful Women,” I (intern Kasvi here) was struck by a realization – I didn’t know who most of these women are. While personalities such as Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos have become regular household names, many of the names on this document had me amiss.
As such, in an effort to improve not just to ensure equal representation in the workplace, but also to credit women in powerful positions with equal amounts of news coverage, here are 5 female CEOs that you should (already) know about.
Oracle – Safra Catz
Catz joined Oracle in 1999, has served on its board since 2001, and has been CEO of the multinational computer technology corporation since 2014. In April 2017, it was reported that she was the highest paid female CEO of any US company (CBS News).
Accenture – Julie Sweet
Julie Sweet is the CEO of Accenture, a multinational professional services company, and has held the position since September 2019. Sweet strongly advocates for gender equality and diversity and inclusion in the workplace and aims to have equal representation for males and females in the office by 2025. As of now, Accenture has a 42% female staff.
YouTube – Susan Wojcicki
Susan Wojcicki is the current CEO of Youtube and has been since 2014. During her leadership as CEO, she managed to raise the percent of women employed at YouTube from 24% to almost 30% (Vanity Fair 2017). She also was one of Google’s founding members and served as the marketing manager back in 1999.
PepsiCO – Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American businesswoman and former Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, where she served as the fifth CEO of the company beginning in 2006. From there, Nooyi served in the position for 12 years and helped aid the implementation of women-centric marketing during her tenure.
VEON – Ursula Burns
Ursula Burns is an American businesswoman and former CEO of VEON, a multinational telecommunication services company. Her tenure as CEO lasted from 2018 to early 2020. In addition, she is amongst one of the the first black women to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company with her appointment as the CEO of Xerox in 2009.
These women are only the tip of the iceberg on the list of women who haven’t received nearly as much media space and recognition as their male counterparts would have. We hope that learning about women being represented at top technology and consumer goods companies inspires you and also allows you to adopt a more critical lens while consuming media, specifically with regards to who gets the most recognition and appreciation.