Women History Spotlight: GM Joins FCA, Having The First Black Woman On The Board Of Directors

Linda Gooden

Linda Gooden is the first black woman to serve on the board of General Motors. The former executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation joined the board in February. Ironically, Gooden began her 40-year career at the former Packard Electric Division of GM. In 2010, she was appointed to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee by President Obama. With the addition of Gooden, she now becomes the thirteen board member and the second black to currently sit on GM's board. Five women serves on GM's board, including the CEO, Mary Barra, the industry's first female to run a major automaker.


Ford Motor Company currently has sixteen board members, one is a black male and two are women. Out of the two women one is a Hispanic female.

Ruth Simmons

And FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) currently has one black female on the board, Ruth Simmons. Simmons, the former president of Brown University, has served on FCA's board since 2012. Currently there are eleven board members at FCA. Three of them are women and one is a black male.

The board members are responsible for the management and the strategic direction of the company.

As far as the foreign automakers, there are currently no black Americans on the board. In fact, Toyota, which is a Japanese-based company, recently allowed Americans on their board. So, for the foreseeable future there probably won't be any blacks on the foreign automakers board.