General Motors is a bit of a corporate anomaly in America.

It is one of the few companies to have gender equity on its board of directors, which is now composed of six men and six women.

The carmaker elected Jami Miscik, 60, to its board, it said in a statement released Wednesday.

Miscik is an expert in global security and intelligence, having once served as the Central Intelligence Agency's deputy director for intelligence, responsible for all of the CIA's intelligence analysts and deciding the content of the president's daily briefing. She currently serves as the CEO and vice chair of Kissinger Associates.

"Jami is a seasoned leader with experience in assessing the geopolitical and macroeconomic climate," said Mary Barra, GM's chairman and CEO.

Intelligence for GM

Established in 1982 by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Kissinger Associates is a consulting firm in New York. It advises clients on strategic partnerships, investments and government relations.

Miscik joined Kissinger Associates in 2009 as its president and vice chair. In 2015, she became its co-CEO and vice chair. In July of last year, she was named CEO and vice chair.

Said Barra, "Her unique and extensive background in intelligence, security and risk analysis and mitigation will add significant insights to GM's board and the company's overall strategy."

Miscik, who has a master's degree in international studies from the University of Denver and a bachelor's in political science from Pepperdine University, also worked for Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers.

She also serves on the board of directors at Morgan Stanley and as the co-vice chair of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Miscik also previously served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

Gender equity

Miscik's addition to the board not only gives GM an expert with a world view at its helm, it also rebalances GM's gender equity on its board, a unique feature in corporate America where most boards are dominated by males.

Yet studies show that Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors made more money, on average, than those with lower women representation, said a report by Catalyst, a nonprofit corporate research and advisory organization.

GM has been recognized for its gender equity across the company and on its boards. Last week, the Global Report on Gender Equality named GM as the No. 1 company in the world for gender equality in the workplace. In the report, GM bumped cosmetic company L'Oreal France from the top spot last year to second place.

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GM dominated the rankings because it's the only company of the largest 20 in the United States that has both a female CEO, Mary Barra, and an equal number of women and men on its board of directors, the study said.

At the time of this study, GM's board was evenly split between men and women. But in June, GM added Devin Wenig, president and CEO of eBay Inc., to the board, making the split six men and five women, until this week's addition of Miscik.

The study also cited GM's move to name Dhivya Suryadevara as its first female CFO as of Sept. 1. It listed pay equity and flexible hours as some of the other reasons for GM being a good company for women to work for.

Contact Jamie L. LaReau at 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com