Good morning, Broadsheet readers! PG&E’s CEO offers with a serious impediment, Dr. Katalin Karikó was one among two scientists awarded a Nobel Prize, and the Fortune 500 will get a second Black feminine CEO—once more. Have a terrific Thursday!
– Dynamic duo. This week, Toni Townes-Whitley turned the CEO of Science Purposes Worldwide Corp., a Virginia-based Fortune 500 know-how firm that helps authorities businesses, intelligence providers, and the Division of Protection.
Along with her appointment, Townes-Whitley turns into one among two Black girls at the moment serving as Fortune 500 CEOs. The timing is notable; for all of September, TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett stood alone as the one Black feminine CEO within the Fortune 500 following the exit of Walgreens chief Roz Brewer. With Townes-Whitley’s rent at SAIC, Duckett is now not an “only” amongst Fortune 500 chiefs and the smaller group of 52 feminine CEOs.
Not solely that, however SAIC achieved a uncommon feminine CEO-to-female CEO handoff, with Townes-Whitley taking on from former SAIC chief Nazzic Keene. Townes-Whitley’s rent was introduced in Might and she or he turned “CEO-elect” in June.
Townes-Whitley spoke to Stephanie Mehta at Quick Firm concerning the significance of her new position.
“I was with the other female in our duo just a few days ago,” she stated of Duckett, “And we were talking about the importance of how we show up and that we have a greater pipeline into these roles.”
“This is an opportunity for me not only as a female but as an African American female,” she added. “We’ve never had an African American female as a CEO in national security. And yet, if you look at our security forces, they’re quite diverse. And so, we’ve got to ask ourselves, both by sector and by size of company, why are we not building that pipeline?”
Earlier than becoming a member of SAIC, Townes-Whitley was Microsoft’s president of U.S. regulated industries, with an $11 billion P&L.
SAIC is smaller, with $7.7 billion in annual income and a No. 479 rating on the Fortune 500. Townes-Whitley believes SAIC is undervalued; she goals to higher articulate its differentiated worth proposition and make clear its model.
She’ll be doing that with extra consideration than a public sector-focused tech enterprise normally garners.
“People like myself and others—we have to show up,” she says of her visibility. “We have to demonstrate that we can make this happen. We can grow businesses, we understand top line, bottom line, and all of the shareholder pressures, and we can deliver. And I think the more that occurs, you’re going to start to see some changes.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
