Top Defense CEO says non-linear paths can take you to the top: ‘Jumping is one of my core values’

talk in The wealth of the most powerful women Summit last week Townes Whitley She said she made “about three or four major turns” in her career before becoming… Currently the second black female CEO on the Fortune 500 list.

One of those turning points occurred right after she graduated from Princeton. She chose the Peace Foundation of Gabon over her full MBA journey. As part of the Civic Volunteer Program, she helped build 37 schools and taught public health to 820 students over three years.

Her time at the Peace Foundation, which many thought would set her back, was a “leapfrog” moment as she eschewed the traditional ladder and gave her different life experiences. “(L)eapfrogging is one of my core values, and one of 10 that I have used for about 20 years,” she said.

After joining the Peace Corps, she began her career as a management consultant at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Another unexpected turn came when the company collapsed amid the Enron scandal in the early 2000s. She joked that she “probably sold the last necklace” before leaving.

Combining high jumps with a spirit of service — she is the daughter of a three-star general — Townes-Whitley now runs SAIC and is located at the “intersection” of commercial technology and complex mission environments.

Transformation into technology and the vertical leap

After Arthur Anderson folded, Townes-Whiteley charted a new course by joining Unisysa company working in the field of server infrastructure, which pushed it into the world of technology.

Having trained as an economist, she quickly realized that her love of modeling and regression analysis translated perfectly into technology – a field she once thought was a mismatch for her skills.

“Some of you who have no language or label for what you do believe there is no place for it in the new world order you are entering,” she said. “There are always bridges and transitions.”

Townes-Whitley eventually joined Microsoft In 2015; There she led the firm’s global public sector, expanding its understanding of how technology can support civic and government transformation. During her time at Microsoft, she traveled to more than 140 countries.

After leaving Microsoft, Townes-Whiteley sat on several corporate boards, including… Nasdaq. But she realized she still had “fuel in the tank” to drive.

In 2023, she accepted the CEO position at SAIC, a $7.5 billion defense technology company, one-third of whose employees are veterans. The move brought her career full circle, returning to her family’s military roots and lifelong commitment to service.

“It’s amazing, as female leaders and CEOs, how little we believe in how amazing we are,” she said. “It’s not about glass ceilings, it’s about sticky floors. Check out the sticky floors.”