Ursula burns biography
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“I’m Here Because I’m As Good As You”
In Ursula Burns was named CEO of Xerox, becoming the first Black woman to head a Fortune company. It was the culmination of an amazing life journey, from a Manhattan tenement to the C-suite of one of America’s most iconic companies. She led Xerox for seven years, stepping down in after a bruising battle with the activist investor Carl Icahn, which led to the company’s breakup. Burns subsequently served as CEO of the global telecommunications firm Veon and still sits on several major corporate boards. She is an outspoken champion of inclusive capitalism and racial equity, themes that animate her just-published memoir, Where You Are Is Not Who You Are. She recently spoke from her home in London with HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius. Here are excerpts from the conversation.
Read more on Leadership or related topics Diversity and inclusion, Gender and Race
A version of this article appeared in the July–August issue of Harvard Business Review.
Adi Ignatius is the editor in chief of Harvard Business Review.
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Ursula M. Burns: The first African American Woman CEO of a Fortune company
Ursula M. Burns was born on September 20, , in New York, New York, U.S.A). Ursula is an American Business Executive, who served as the chairwoman of the board of the Xerox Corporation from to and as Chief Executive Officer from to She was the first African American woman to lead an S & P company and serve as CEO of a Fortune company.
Early Life and Schooling
Ursula was raised by her Panamanian single immigrant mother who was on welfare. She grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the Baruch Houses, a New York City housing project. Her mother, Olga Racquel Burns took in washing and ironing jobs, bartered office cleaning for their medical needs, and took care of other people’s children in their apartment to supplement her welfare check. 1
She attended Cathedral High School, a Catholic all-girls private school on East 56th Street in New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering () from Brooklyn Polytech (now New York University) through the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), a scholarship program created by New York State in to aid economically and educationally disadvantaged residents.
“The program was essential. HEOP paid my full tuition and g