FedEx welcomes first black female CEO

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:02 pm

Ramon Hood who began as a receptionist at FedEx has been named its newest CEO.

The company announced on Wednesday, February that the former VP of operations, strategy, and planning is now CEO, bringing more than 28 years of company experience to her role. She will be overseeing the Custom Critical division. As the announcement stands, Ramon is the first black woman to become CEO in the company’s history.

Hood landed an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift in 1991 as a receptionist for Roberts Express, which later became FedEx Custom Critical. It didn’t take long for her to develop that short-term win into a long-term pursuit of leadership, culminating in her latest promotion.

Reacting to becoming the company’s CEO, Hood said: “I wasn’t thinking this was going to be my career and I’d be here for 28 years. I was a young mother. I wanted a job that had a stable shift that would allow me to do (college) courses as appropriate.”

Over the years, Hood has been responsible for innovative ideas that made her stand out from her peers. She climbed up the ladder of success in the company from heading subsidiary FedEx Truckload Brokerage to obtaining an officer position at FedEx Supply Chain in 2016. She then returned to FedEx Custom Critical for an executive position. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Walsh University and an Executive MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

In the early days as CEO, Hood is looking to gain useful insight from employees, customers and independent contractors driving for Custom Critical. She has created her famous “Ramona Roundtables,” which she is wrapping up this month and involved her talking with small groups of employees.

“The next thing I’ll be doing is going out and spending time with customers and independent contractors,” Hood said. “I’m defining that as my ‘listen and learn tour.’ ”

She also mentions that under her leadership, Custom Critical will be agile in addressing customer needs and using technology, all while “looking at things in ways we haven’t in the past.”