Working
at Unilever for over 3 decades, Leena Nair was the First Asian Female, the youngest
ever Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever and member of the Unilever
Leadership Executive. Nair was the youngest executive director of Hindustan
Unilever.
Indian-born British National Leena has been appointed as the CEO of Chanel on 14
December 2021. She was working as the CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer) of
Unilever and will join Chanel in January 2022. Nair joined Hindustan Unilever Company
in 1992.
Under Nair's
leadership, Unilever has been named as the number one FMCG graduate employer of
choice in 54 countries. She was also the first woman on the Unilever South Asia
Leadership team. The team was responsible for the company's growth in the
markets of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
After the
announcement, Nair tweeted, "I am so inspired by what Chanel stands for. It
is a company that believes in the freedom of creation, in cultivating human
potential and in acting to have a positive impact in the world."
Leena made
her country feel proud by becoming the CEO of the iconic French luxury fashion
house, Chanel. She is the second Indian-origin woman to take over as the Global CEO after Indra Nooyi.
Nair
was awarded Role Model of the Year, by The Great British Businesswoman's
Awards in 2021. She was also listed among Fortune India's Most Powerful Women's
List.
In one
of her tweets after being appointed as the global CEO of Chanel she wrote, "I am
grateful for my long career at Unilever, a place that has been my home for 30
years. It has given me so many opportunities to learn, grow and contribute to a
truly purpose-driven organization".
People of
the country feel proud of another achievement by an Indian for leading one of
the biggest companies in the world. Before Lena Nair, it was Parag
Aggarwal who joined as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Twitter. There are
many such names in the list that make the country proud by leading World's
biggest companies.