International executive and former CIA deputy director Jami Miscik is joining General Motors board of directors.
General Motors has added a female executive with broad experience in international affairs to its board of directors and, in the process, signals its support of gender equality.
The addition of Jami Miscik, the CEO and vice chair of Kissinger Associates, a geopolitical consulting firm founded by former Secretary of State and Presidential adviser Henry Kissinger, brings the total membership of GM’s board to 12.
The GM board now includes 11 outsiders and is made up of six men and six women.
“Jami is a seasoned leader with experience in assessing the geopolitical and macroeconomic climate,” said GM Chairman and CEO Barra said. “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,” she said.
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Pamela Fletcher, left, will now answer directly to GM CEO Mary Barra as vice president of innovation.
Prior to her appointment as CEO of Kissinger Associates, Miscik was the deputy director of intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency. Miscik has also held various roles at Barclays and Lehman Brothers.
At Kissinger Associates, which has client list that included companies such as American Express, Coca-Cola, Fiat and Volvo, she has also served as co-CEO and vice chair. Miscik will continue to serve as CEO of Kissinger Associates while serving on GM’s board. Additionally, she will remain on the board of directors at Morgan Stanley and as the co-vice chair of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The appointment of Miscik marks another milestone in GM’s history since it assures that half of the company’s directors are female. The board reached a 50-50 male-female split on the board in 2016 when Harvard Management Co. CEO Jane Mendillo, replaced Steve Girsky, who retired.
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Dhivya Suryadevara becomes General Motors chief financial officer on Sept. 1.
In September, 39-year-old Dhivya Suryadevara became GM’s first female chief financial officer after she replaced Chuck Stevens.
Earlier this month, GM was named as the top company in the world for gender equality in the Global Report on Gender Equality. In the report, GM bumped cosmetic company L’Oreal France from the top spot last year to second place.
Ford Motor Co.’s advertising agency’s parent company (WPP) and cable titan Comcast landed on the list compiled by the gender equity data and insight group Equileap.
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“We have seen organizations making great strides toward improved gender equality in the past 12 months,” said Diana van Maasdijk, the CEO Equileap, which prepared the report. She also said, the companies singled out in the study are still the exception in terms of advancing women.