Unilever has announced today that CHRO Leena Nair – one of its top executives driving the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda – is leaving the company in January 2022 to join luxury giant Chanel as its Chief Executive Officer. The French fashion house has appointed Nair to CEO so billionaire Alain Wertheimer, the company’s owner who was temporarily filling the role, can now move to the role of Global Executive Chairman.
“I would like to thank Leena for her outstanding contribution over the last three decades. Leena has been a pioneer throughout her career at Unilever, but no more so than in her role as CHRO, where she has been a driving force on our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda, on the transformation of our leadership development, and on our preparedness for the future of work,” stated Unilever CEO Alan Jope. “She has played a critical role in building our purpose-led, future-fit organisation, which is now the employer of choice in over 50 countries globally.”
The diversity and inclusion champion’s career at Unilever spans 30 years. In 2007, Nair became the Hindustan Unilever’s youngest executive director and the first woman in the Management Committee of Hindustan Unilever in 90 years. She was appointed the first woman on Unilever South Asia Leadership Team a year later. In 2016, Leena Nair became the first female, first Asian, youngest ever CHRO of Unilever and a key member of the Unilever Leadership Executive.
UNILEVER’S DIVERSITY CHAMPION
“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 organisation,” said Nair on her LinkedIn post today. “I will always be a proud advocate of Unilever and its ambition to make sustainable living commonplace.”
Under her leadership, Unilever achieved gender parity in management ranks globally, as reported. Now part of her new role at Chanel will be to make the fashion world more inclusive, and Nair is looking forward to joining the iconic brand.
Commenting on the CEO role, Nair said: “I am humbled and honoured to be appointed the Global Chief Executive Officer of Chanel; an iconic and admired company. 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.”
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