"Toni Townes-Whitley didn't follow a step-by-step blueprint to reach the top of the defense industry. The SAIC CEO's path was non-linear, stretching horizontally and vertically before reaching the top of the $4.4 billion defense tech giant. Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit last week, Townes-Whitley said that she made "about three or four key turns" in her career before becoming the second Black female CEO currently in the Fortune 500."
"She chose the Peace Corp in Gabon over a full-ride for an MBA. As part of the civilian volunteer program, she helped build 37 schools and taught public health to 820 students over three years. Her time in the Peace Corp, which many thought would set her back, was a "leapfrogging" moment in that it eschewed the traditional ladder and gave her different life experiences."
"After the Peace Corps, she began her white-collar 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 "might have sold the last contract" before leaving. Combining leapfrogging with the spirit of service-she's the daughter of a three-star general-Townes-Whitley now runs SAIC and is at the "intersection" of commercial technology and complex mission environments."
Townes-Whitley followed a non-linear career path across sectors and roles to lead SAIC, a $4.4 billion defense tech company. She made about three or four key turns before becoming the second Black female CEO in the Fortune 500. After Princeton, she chose Peace Corps service in Gabon over an MBA, helped build 37 schools, and taught public health to 820 students over three years. That experience functioned as a 'leapfrogging' value that broadened her skills. She began as a management consultant at Arthur Andersen, navigated its collapse during the Enron scandal, then joined Unisys and shifted into technology, applying economic modeling and regression analysis to tech roles.
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