The General Motors Company was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant. From small beginnings GM reached the milestone of selling 10 million vehicles per year, in 2016. This week another milestone was reached, and one which reflects changing gender relations in the workplace. As Insider announces, GM will become first major automobile company in history to have a female CEO and a female CFO. This news is especially significant in the context of an industry that has a culture of being male dominated.
GM’s new CFO is Dhivya Suryadevara, who will join the current CEO Mary Barra onto the executive board on September 1, 2018. Suryadevara’s appointment follows the retirement of General Motors’ CFO, Chuck Stevens. Suryadevara was formerly GM’s vice president of Corporate Finance, a role she has undertaken since 2017. Prior to this Suryadevara, who joined the company in 2005, has held various finance related roles.
Suryadevara, aged 39 and born in Chennai, India, has an MBA from Harvard and during her time with the company she has provided support to Barra in GM’s investment and M&A undertakings. Suryadevara’s specialization has been with corporate financial planning, investor relations and special projects.
Commenting on the new CFO appointment, Barra said, as quoted by Fortune: “Dhivya’s experience and leadership in several key roles throughout our financial operations positions her well to build on the strong business results we’ve delivered over the last several years.”
Other companies that have a female CEO and a female CFO are rare, but they include Hershey Co and Signet Jewelers.
