The list of Black business executives leading Fortune 500 businesses now includes Toni Townes-Whitley. According to Fortune, she has been appointed CEO of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), a Fortune 500 technology corporation with headquarters in Virginia that provides services to the Department of Defense, intelligence organizations, and government agencies.
According to the platform, she is now one of two black women holding Fortune 500 CEO positions. The other is Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA. Rosalind “Roz” Brewer, the head of Walgreens, stepped down three months ago. As per Reuters, there was mutual parting.
Townes-Whitley succeeded Nazzic Keene, the former head of SAIC. She was named “CEO-elect” in June of this year after her appointment was made public in May.
“I was with the other female in our duo just a few days ago,” she said 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,” said the CEO who has served in financial services, healthcare, state and local government, as well as higher education. “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?”
Townes-Whitley led Microsoft’s $11 billion P&L for its regulated sectors in the United States before joining SAIC. On the other hand, SAIC ranks 479th on the Fortune 500 and brings in $7.7 billion in revenue annually.
She assumes her new role with a clear understanding that SAIC is undervalued. “I’m starting with a hypothesis that this company, with its rich legacy and its current portfolio, is undervalued by the market,” she told Inc.com. “And it is also slightly misunderstood. How do we differentiate? What is our unique capability? I think we have to articulate that better, and we actually have to execute against it.”
The chief innovation officer that Townes-Whitley hired is fresh out of the Air Force and is “going to bring some real-world perspective to our portfolio, how we go to market, and how we introduce more innovation to our customers,” she said in the interview.