Two Black women CEOs made a record-breaking Fortune 500 list this year that includes 41 female CEOs, the most in the list’s history. Rosalind Brewer of Walgreens Boots Alliance and Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA made the annual list that ranks the nation’s biggest companies.
According to a report by ABC News, before Brewer and Duckett, Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, was the only other Black woman to make the list. Burns stepped down in 2017 and was a pioneer in her career, becoming the first Black woman ever to lead an S&P 500 company.
Brewer is ranked No. 16 on this year’s list, and Duckett is No. 79. Karen Lynch of CVS Health is the highest-ranking woman CEO on the list, coming in at No. 4.
Brewer was previously the CEO of Starbucks before joining Walgreens earlier this year. In 2014, the Spelman College alumna was named the 64th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Brewer is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Duckett joined TIAA this year after serving as CEO of Chase Consumer Banking. She is a graduate of the University of Houston and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. In 2018, American Banker ranked Duckett as the 10th most powerful woman in banking.
Photos: Getty Images