A big applause. Indian American Sonia Syngal has been appointed as the CEO of retail giant Gap Inc. Syngal’s post will be effective from March 23, the company said in an announcement on Thursday. After Indra Nooyi stepped down as PepsiCo head in 2018, 49-year-old Syngal is the highest-ranked Indian-American female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Who Is Sonia?

Before being appointed as the CEO, Syngal was heading the Old Navy Unit of Gap Inc., since 2016.

She has been credited with taking Old Navy from $7billion to $8billion in sales in just three years. While serving the position of CEO, she’ll receive an annual base salary of $1.3 million.

The company has also appointed two new women members to join on its board of directors: Elizabeth Smith and Amy Miles. This will be effective April 1 onwards.

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Previous Positions In Other Fortune 500 Companies

Sonia has worked with Sun Microsystems where she led manufacturing operations, logistics and supply chain management, and at Ford Motor Co. where she held roles in product design, quality, and manufacturing engineering.

After Indra Nooyi stepped down as PepsiCo head in 2018, the 49-year-old Syngal is the highest-ranked Indian-American female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

“I’m committed to fully realising the potential of our portfolio and the advantage of our scale, with a focus on strengthening the love that our millions of customers have for our brands. To do that, we must better prioritize initiatives and capabilities that will improve execution and drive value creation,” said Syngal.

Growing Up

Born to Sushma and Satya Syngal in India, Sonia Syngal spent her formative years in Canada.

She then moved to US where she did her Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Ketting University.

She did her Masters in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University.

Billion Dollar Mover

Before being appointed as the CEO of Gap, Syngal headed the old navy unit of the company since 2016. She is credited with taking the sales of Old Navy from $7 Billion to $8 Billion in just three years. The sales of Gap Inc products hence expanded to more than 1200 stores in U.S., Canada, and Mexico, scaling its e-commerce site to the no. 4 largest apparel site in the U.S. and building competitive omni-channel capabilities. Before this, she was Executive Vice President of Global Supply Chain and Product Operations, responsible for managing Gap Inc.’s global supply chain. She has served key leadership roles in the company right since the time she joined in 2004. She has served as the Managing Director for the company’s Europe business, Senior Vice President for Gap Inc.’s International division and International Outlet division. Currently, She is a member of the Boys & Girls Club of America’s Board of Governors and serves on The Gap Foundation Board of Trustees.

“It’s an honor to build on this company’s rich heritage and lead our nearly 130,000 employees in transforming our business and operations to successfully compete in the future,”- Sonia Syngal

Picture Credit- The Indian Express

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