Fortune magazine recently published its 50 Most Powerful Woman in Business list for 2016. And yes, megastar Beyoncé is mentioned, but not in the way you may think.
First, let’s meet a few of the 50 women who together run companies valued at well more than $1 trillion.
General Motors Company’s Mary Barra tops the magazine’s list again. She’s eyeing a new way for you to hit the road. The auto giant recently teamed up with ride-hailing company Lyft to pursue ride-sharing using self-driving cars. The company’s first female CEO also has signed President Obama’s White House pledge to study gender pay gaps at the workplace.
YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki has added live-streaming and virtual reality videos to the Google-owned online video site. Enjoy the “Google Doodle?” Wojcicki was behind the whimsical and often impressive renditions of the Google logo that draw attention to holidays and events. She is a big advocate for paid parental leave. At Google, employees get 18 weeks of paid parental leave.
PepsiCo Inc.’s Indra Nooyi is now in her 10th year leading the soda giant and its branching out to healthier brands. If you drink Gatorade or eat Quaker Oats granola bars, you are downing PepsiCo brand products that Nooyi acquired. The company also is active with the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, which seeks to reduce childhood obesity. Nooyi is also active on gender equality issues.
Xerox’s Ursula Burns is the first African-American woman to run a Fortune 500 company. She transformed Xerox from a copy and printing company to a technology and services enterprise. Obama appointed her to the President’s Export Council, which focuses on trade, and his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. She was active in creating Change the Equation, an organization that focuses on improving education related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Sam’s Club’s Rosalind Brewer has led Wal-Mart Store Inc.’s warehouse club division for four years. The club’s app that lets customers pay without going through the checkout was Brewer’s doing. She also implemented in-store pickup for online orders. Brewer has been active in President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper campaign to help hardworking young men of color.
And Beyoncé? “Queen Bey,” as the megastar is known, didn’t actually make the official list. She came in at Number 51 as a “special bonus” pick. “Empowering women seems to be an ongoing theme for the music mogul,” Fortune magazine said.
The same is certainly true for the other women on the list in their respective fields. Maybe one day you will join them?
