Top 10: Female People Leaders

According to Russell Reynolds Associates’ Global CHRO Turnover Index, 68% of the FTSE CHRO appointments are women – with the HR leadership position often having the highest representation of women in any senior executive role. 

Comparatively, only 9% of CEO and 21% of CFO appointments in the period measured were women – meaning that CHROs and Chief People Officers are often the only female representation at the executive level. 

Ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March, we look at female people leaders who illustrate how strategic people leadership is central to driving business results, innovation, and sustainable culture in the world's largest companies.

10. Gloria Chen

Company: Adobe

Revenue: US$23.77bn

Location: California, US

As Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President of Employee Experience, Gloria Chen plays a pivotal role in defining Adobe’s people strategy and shaping every stage of the employee journey.

At the heart of Adobe’s HR strategy are leadership development and employee experience, viewed as essential catalysts for innovation and sustained business performance.

The company runs a quarterly training programme for managers, offering concise, high-impact sessions that strengthen key capabilities while encouraging employees to take ownership of their career growth.

Gloria has effectively led initiatives to cultivate inclusive workplace cultures and develop robust, long-term talent pipelines across functions and regions worldwide, reinforcing Adobe’s commitment to creativity and continuous internal development.

9. Tiffanie Boyd

Company: McDonald’s

Revenue: US$26.89bn

Location: Illinois, US

As Global Chief People Officer at McDonald’s Tiffanie Boyd has led initiatives to strengthen leadership development, enhance inclusion and modernise HR operations across a vast global workforce.

By integrating people-focused goals directly into business operations, she has shifted the company towards a ‘culture of care’ where a positive employee experience is seen as critical for a positive customer experience.

Her leadership supports both corporate teams and franchise operators, ensuring alignment in talent practices worldwide. Through the integration of data-driven decision-making with strong cultural leadership, she has helped McDonald’s navigate evolving workforce expectations while maintaining operational excellence and brand consistency.

8. Nancy Phillips

Company: Paramount

Revenue: US$30bn

Location: California, US

Nancy Phillips has guided the people strategy at Paramount during a period of significant industry transformation, including shifts toward streaming and digital media and a merge with Skydance Media. 

She has led organisational redesign efforts to align talent structures with evolving content distribution models and strengthened leadership development initiatives to support leaders navigating rapid change. 

Nancy has also modernised talent management processes to improve transparency and performance accountability across Paramount – helping the company manage the balance between creative freedom with operational discipline.

7. Carol Surface

Company: HP

Revenue: US$55.3bn

Location: California, US

At HP, Carol Surface has led the company’s global people strategy with a focus on digital HR transformation and culture alignment. 

She has introduced advanced people analytics tools to improve workforce planning and leadership decision-making, as well as expanding the company’s global leadership development programmes. 

Carol has also developed the company’s approach to hybrid working, which operates on a ‘work from anywhere’ model.

These developments have helped the company modernise its employee experience and strengthen its company values of integrity, trust, respect for individuals and a commitment to innovation, community and sustainability across its global workforce. 

6. Joanne Smith

Company: Delta Air Lines

Revenue: US$63.4bn

Location: Georgia, US

Joanne Smith has played a key role in elevating frontline engagement at Delta Air Lines, particularly by strengthening programs that empower airport and customer service teams. 

She has supported initiatives that enhance training for frontline leaders, reinforcing service excellence and operational reliability. 

During periods of operational recovery in the airline industry, Joanne has helped align staffing strategies with customer demand to maintain service standards. 

She has also championed recognition programmes that spotlight frontline employees’ contributions, reinforcing Delta’s ‘culture of appreciation’.

5. Payal Sahni

Company: Pfizer

Revenue: US$63.63bn

Location: New York, US

At Pfizer, Payal Sahni has supported enterprise workforce planning aligned with the company’s scientific innovation and global commercialisation priorities. 

She has contributed to leadership development frameworks that prepare senior leaders to manage complex global research and development portfolios and has helped strengthen talent acquisition strategies to secure critical scientific and technical expertise. 

Alongside this, she has also developed a company initiative called the Breakthrough Fellowship Programme, designed to accelerate diverse leadership representation. 

Her emphasis on aligning capability building with Pfizer’s mission-driven culture has reinforced the company’s ability to attract top-tier talent in a competitive life sciences landscape.

4. Christy Pambianchi

Company: Caterpillar Inc

Revenue: US$67.6bn

Location: Texas, US

At Caterpillar, Christy Pambianchi has led a comprehensive HR modernisation effort that is digitising core people processes – including performance management and talent review systems – across a global industrial workforce. 

She has also developed inclusive leadership training focused on collaboration and understanding diversity, and expanded the company’s global development programmes to build future-ready skills aligned with its innovation agenda. 

During periods of market volatility, Christy partnered closely with business leaders to align workforce planning with operational strategy, with the company developing a nimble staffing model to avoid high costs of hiring and during. 

Her work embedding data and technology into the organisation’s people strategy has elevated its ability to attract, develop and retain talent across a global market.

3. Samantha Hammock

Company: Verizon

Revenue: US$138.19bn

Location: New York, US

As Verizon sees growth in areas such as 5G, digital services and AI Samantha Hammock has led workforce reskilling efforts for the company to ensure employees are adequately prepared. 

The company is building a skills first culture, and has developed a platform that helps employees map their own careers – offering transparency into job roles across the company. 

This gives employees more access to advancement, as Samantha’s approach sees skills as more important than qualifications when it comes to career progression.

She also strengthened Verizon’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy by implementing measurable representation goals and embedding accountability within leadership performance metrics. 

Under her people leadership Verizon has become a more digitally focused and innovation-driven organisation.

2. Heidi Capozzi

Company: CVS Health

Revenue: US$402.07bn

Location: Rhode Island, US

Heidi Capozzi has advanced CVS Health’s workforce strategy during major business expansion and healthcare transformation. 

She has supported company initiatives that are  focused on internal mobility and career pathways, enabling employees to transition into high-demand healthcare and technology roles. 

In her role, Heidi has also strengthened diversity representation efforts by embedding inclusion metrics into leadership performance expectations, as well as building up employee listening programmes for talent in the businesses retail and clinical teams. 

Her work aligns talent development with CVS Health’s mission of increasing access to affordable, community-based healthcare services.

1. Erin McSweeney

Company: UnitedHealth Group

Revenue: US$447.6bn

Location: Minnesota, US

Erin McSweeney has been instrumental in strengthening UnitedHealth Group’s enterprise talent strategy during a period of rapid healthcare expansion and digital transformation.

She has led workforce planning initiatives to support large-scale growth across the company, ensuring it could effectively recruit and retain clinical, technical and operational talent at scale. 

She has also advanced leadership development programmes within the company which are designed to build internal pipelines for critical roles – reducing reliance on external hiring. 

During her tenure as Chief People Officer at UnitedHealth Group, she has also integrated people analytics into decision-making, enabling leaders to proactively address retention and engagement risks. 

Her work aligning culture, capability building and data-driven HR practices has helped sustain performance across a workforce of hundreds of thousands in a complex regulatory environment.