Ursula Burns – CEO, Xerox

Another inspirational woman at a high profile international corporation is Ursula Burns, Chair and CEO of Xerox. Ursula’s career is an inspiration for everyone, but particularly women and people of colour looking to make an impact in the business world.

Ursula’s story began when she took over the helm from another inspirational female leader, Anne Mulcahy, who stepped down in 2009. As the first African American woman to head a major U.S. corporation, she guided the company to increase its stock price by an incredible 36 percent within just a few months of taking over.

In an interview, Ursula expanded on a quote from the great engineer Alexander Graham Bell to say that leaders need to seek out new opportunities. “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us,” she said.