In 126 years, Dow has by no means had a black girl as its chief government officer. This modifications on July 1st.
Karen S. Carter, presently the corporate’s chief working officer, was named CEO earlier this month by the board of administrators, making her the primary Black girl to steer the corporate in its historical past. She can be, since this summer time, one of the highly effective leaders in American enterprise.
“I’m deeply honored to imagine the function of CEO and lead Dow into our subsequent chapter,” she mentioned in a press release following the announcement. “Dow has extraordinary individuals, world-class property and management positions within the markets we serve. »
Dow is not a family identify, however its merchandise are present in every little thing from meals packaging to constructing supplies to client electronics. The corporate had income of round $40 billion in 2025 and employs tens of hundreds of individuals worldwide. Carter was appointed by the board on April 9, after a years-long inner search to search out its subsequent chief. She succeeds Jim Fitterling, who has led the corporate since 2018 and can tackle the function of government chairman, with Richard Davis remaining as lead unbiased director of the board.
Carter joined Dow in 1994, recent out of Howard College (HU, you know) and DePaul, getting into an business the place black ladies had been hardly ever centered. Over the following three a long time, she labored in operations, gross sales, advertising and marketing, human assets and worldwide enterprise, together with within the Asia Pacific area, ultimately main the corporate’s largest division earlier than changing into COO. On this function, she oversaw Dow’s three enterprise segments and its analysis and growth operations, with a concentrate on strengthening buyer relationships and commercializing the corporate’s new merchandise.
She continued: “Our purpose stays unwavering: to offer dependable, progressive options for our clients and long-term worth for our staff and shareholders, whereas accelerating our transformation to set a brand new aggressive commonplace for best-in-class efficiency.
Fifty-five ladies presently lead Fortune 500 corporations, which is a file. When Carter takes workplace this summer time, she might be one in every of solely two black ladies in that group, though black ladies make up almost 7 % of the U.S. inhabitants.
She takes over at a tough time, as the corporate faces falling demand in a number of of its key sectors, intense investor scrutiny and broader financial uncertainty.
The plastics and chemical substances business can be beneath growing stress from regulators and customers, that means Carter takes workplace at a time when the corporate’s strategic route might be topic to extra scrutiny than regular. It is a high-stakes second for the corporate. For Carter, it is also the fruits of a three-decade rise in an business the place few ladies who appear like her have made it this far.