Walmart Taps Three Women to Lead

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Friday, February 03 2012

Rosalind G. Brewer, president and CEO of Sam’s Club

The American multinational retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently announced the promotion of several executive women – among them Rosalind G. Brewer, who assumed the role of president and CEO of Sam’s Club as of February 1.

Brewer was formerly president of the Walmart U.S. East business unit, where she was responsible for more than $100 billion in annual revenue, representing almost 1,600 stores and more than 500,000 associates. She was also the first chairperson of the Walmart President’s Council of Global Women Leaders.

Prior to Walmart, Brewer worked for Kimberly-Clark, progressing through various positions and eventually becoming president of a key business sector in 2004. She is a director of the Lockheed Martin Corp. and currently serves as chair of the board of trustees at her alma mater, Spelman College. She was also selected as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune Magazine in 2010 and 2011.

Brewer was not the only Walmart female to be promoted to an executive position. Gisel Ruiz, 41, was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. In this position, she is responsible for the company’s U.S. operations, which cover more than 3,800 stores and include supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets and Walmart Express formats. She will continue reporting to Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon, and all three regional business unit presidents will report to her.

Ruiz was most recently executive vice president of people for Walmart U.S. where she was responsible for the human resources and store innovation organizations supporting more than 1.2 million associates. She helped transform the company’s approach to talent management and leveraged technology to drive process changes that increased efficiencies and improved the customer and associate experience, according to the company.

Women in the U.S. Retail Industry 5.1% CEO 17.9% Board Directors 18.7% Executive Officers 49.4% Retail Labor Force Sources: Catalyst Research Catalyst, 2011 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners (2011). Catalyst, 2011 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors (2011). Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 18: Employed persons by detailed industry, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, 2010 (2011).

Ruiz began her career at Walmart U.S. as a store management trainee in 1992 and has held a variety of leadership positions in store operations, labor relations and human resources. In 2006, she became vice president, regional general manager in the field operations division and was responsible for 150 Walmart stores in western Texas and New Mexico. A year ago, she was named the 2010 Latina Executive of the Year by Latina Style.

Walmart also promoted Karenann Terrell, 50, to chief information officer for the company. In this position she is responsible for the company’s global technology systems including stores and clubs, supply chain, merchandising and enterprise platforms. Terrell was most recently Walmart’s assistant chief information officer.

Before joining Walmart, Terrell was chief information officer of healthcare leader Baxter International Inc., supporting its businesses worldwide from 2006 to 2010. She previously served as chief information officer of the Chrysler Group and Mercedes-Benz North America. She began her career at General Motors in 1986, where she spent 16 years with responsibility for brand development, manufacturing and engineering at Cadillac.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is not only the largest global retailer, it is also one of the largest companies of any kind in the world. It serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at more than 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide.

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Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.