The 25 best CEOs of 2020, ranked by female employees
8 min read
Stephen Lam/Reuters
The past few years have sparked many important conversations around gender in the workplace.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s seminal book “Lean In,” sparked discussions around gender and race in corporate America. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements shined a light on assault and harassment against women in various industries and across the globe. The coronavirus pandemic made more executives aware of the unpaid household and childcare duties women disproportionately take on, and who was most economically impacted by the pandemic’s economic fallout.
Now, calls for diversity and inclusion from workers amid Black Lives Matter protests are forcing corporations to take a look inward and make changes.
For leaders looking to make change, knowing which corporate leaders rank highly among women can help. It could also help female workers looking to potentially switch companies. Career website Comparably surveyed female employees across some 60,000 large companies (over 500 employees) and small-to-mid-sized companies asking them to anonymously rate their CEO on issues like company culture, leadership, and support for female employees. The survey was open from June 30, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
It should be noted that the list of CEOs is largely white and male, pointing to America’s lack of diversity in the C-suite. But this is the first year a woman has been ranked the top CEO on Comparably’s list since the survey was first conducted in 2018.
Here are the top CEOs at 25 large US companies female employees ranked highly, listed in ascending order of positive reviews. You can review the full list here.
25. Doug Mack is the CEO of Fanatics, an online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise providing a shopping experience to sports fans.
Fanatics
Headquarters: Jacksonville, FL
Industry: Online Retail
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The thing I respect most about the leadership team, especially Doug, is his willingness to share things with everyone not just his leadership team.”
24. Amy Zupon is the CEO of Vertafore, which provides software and critical information to solve business challenges and capture new opportunities in the insurance industry.
Vertafore
Headquarters: Denver
Industry: Computer Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “It is obvious that our leadership team, and our CEO especially, really dig into the things that matter most and continue to do so year after year.”
23. Ryan Smith is the CEO of Qualtrics, a single system of record for all experience data, managing customer, product, employee, and brand experiences.
Ryan Smith
Headquarters: Provo, UT
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The leadership team at Qualtrics is supportive and helpful when it comes to your day-to-day and your career.”
22. John Van Siclen is the CEO of Dynatrace, a software intelligence company providing application performance management, artificial intelligence for operations, cloud infrastructure monitoring, and digital experience management.
Dynatrace
Headquarters: Waltham, MA
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Leadership is open to ideas from any employee, easy to approach and communicate with at any time, and do their best to show appreciation for all.”
21. Jeff Weiner was the CEO of LinkedIn, a professional networking site that allows its members to create business connections, search jobs, and find potential clients.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, CA
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “LinkedIn is diverse and inclusive, which makes me feel free to be myself and work the best out of me.”
20. Mark Marron is the CEO of ePlus, a technology solutions provider of professional and managed services for cloud, security, data center, and digital infrastructure.
Comparably
Headquarters: Herndon, VA
Industry: Information Technology & Services
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The CEO makes an effort to know the various teams and employees on those teams.”
19. Lynn Jurich is the CEO of Sunrun, which provides residential solar electricity and solar power services for homeowners.
Sunrun
Headquarters: San Francisco
Industry: Renewables & Environment
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Lynn is a caring CEO and it shows.”
18. Brian Niccol is the CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, a chain of restaurants in the US, UK, Canada, and France, specializing in burritos and tacos.
Chipotle
Headquarters: Newport Beach, CA
Industry: Hospitality
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “What’s most helpful to me is that leadership is very understanding if you need to work from home or otherwise adjusts your schedule.”
17. Jim Loree is the CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, which focuses on operating in the hand and power tools, and storage industries.
StanleyBlack&Decke
Headquarters: New Britain, CT
Industry: Consumer Goods
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Very open and people-focused. The current leadership is breathing fresh life into the culture.”
16. Mark Mader is the CEO of Smartsheet, a software as a service solution offering collaboration and work management, developed and marketed by Smartsheet Inc.
Smartsheet
Headquarters: Bellevue, WA
Industry: Computer Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “I don’t think I’ve been at a company where the CEO provides as much direct access to their work and connects as much with individual employees as Mark Mader does.”
15. Daniel Dines is the CEO of UiPath, which designs and develops robotic process automation and artificial intelligence software.
Comparably
Headquarters: New York
Industry: AI Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “I like the culture of this organization and how it’s spread by the leadership, in particular, by the CEO and CMO.”
14. Mitch Snyder is the CEO of Bell, an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
Comparably
Headquarters: Aviation & Aerospace
Industry: Fort Worth, TX
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Our CEO is a servant leader and sets a great example of how to empower and motivate people.”
13. Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google, a multinational corporation that specializes in Internet-related services and products.
Stephen Lam/Reuters
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Internet Cloud Computing
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Sundar Pichai is a very good man. Diversity, equal pay, and opportunities for women and minorities. Salary transparency.”
12. Karen White is the CEO of RMS, a risk analytics company providing predictive risk-models, risk-data, risk-analytics applications and APIs.
RMS
Headquarters: Newark, CA
Industry: Computer Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “I have never worked at a company, until I came to RMS, where leadership came to you and wanted your feedback and constantly asks what can they do to make it better for you.”
11. Steve Bilt is the CEO of Smile Brands, which provides comprehensive business support services with affiliate dental groups.
Smile Brands
Headquarters: Irvine, CA
Industry: Health Care/Dental
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Leadership has created a culture that every employee can engage with and they live the company values every day.”
10. Carlos Rodriguez is the CEO of Automatic Data Processing (ADP), an American provider of human resources management software and services.
ADP
Headquarters: Roseland, NJ
Industry: Human Resources Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Exceptionally diverse and inclusive. Very people-centric, rewards strong performance and loyalty.”
9. Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft, a multinational technology company that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.
Getty Images
Headquarters: Redmond, WA
Industry: Computer Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Leadership fosters a culture of inclusiveness and openness.”
8. Vlad Shmunis is the CEO of RingCentral, a publicly-traded provider of cloud-based communications and collaboration solutions for businesses. The company is considered the leader in Unified Communications as a Service in terms of revenue and subscriber seats.
Ring Central
Headquarters: Belmont, CA
Industry: Computer Software
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Adaptive, engaged, progressive and employee culture-centered.”
7. Chris Caldwell is the CEO of Concentrix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation, a tech-enabled global business services company specializing in customer engagement.
Concentrix
Headquarters: Fremont, CA
Industry: Outsurced Call Center
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The CEO works to live our culture.”
6. Bert Bean is the CEO of Insight Global, which provides long-term, short-term, temporary-to-permanent, placement staffing, and enhanced staffing services.
Comparably
Headquarters: Atlanta
Industry: Staffing & Recruiting
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “I have seen a lot of positive change especially with our current CEO. He creates a culture of care, empathy and understanding while holding high expectations with effort and growth.”
5. Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon, an international e-commerce website for consumers, sellers, and content creators.
Katherine Taylor/Reuters
Headquarters: Seattle
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The team is inclusive and the leadership makes sure everyone is involved.”
4. Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, an online social networking service that enables its users to connect with friends and family.
Charles Platiau/Reuters
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Leaders are absolutely amazing. They treat their employees and other faculty members with nothing but dignity and respect, and we expect nothing less of them.”
3. Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service.
Comparably
Headquarters: Cambridge, MA
Industry: Tech
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “Offers initiatives that help us connect better to important international and local causes, including women in tech.”
2. Eric Yuan is the CEO of Zoom Video Communications, a tech company that provides videotelephony and online chat services through a cloud based peer-to-peer software platform and is used for teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations.
Zoom
Headquarters: San Jose, CA
Industry: Information Technology & Services
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “I completed a project and the CEO sent me a personal thank you message. I’ve been in tech for years and never gotten that before.”
1. Annette Bruls is the CEO of Medela, which provides moms and professionals with breast pumps, products, support, and information to help them reach their breastfeeding goals.
Medela
Headquarters: McHenry, IL
Industry: Medical Devices
Employee quote on why the company is good for female employees: “The leadership team is on another level and if they keep investing in us and giving us the great messaging we have, while adapting to change, we cannot be beat.”
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