Schneider Electric has collaborated with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to highlight stories of women in STEM.
One woman featured in the podcast series is Susan Uthayakumar, President of the Sustainability Business Division at Schneider Electric, who has intentionally challenged the status quo to forge her own career path.
She shares insights from her career in a podcast hosted by Society of Women Engineers (SWE) called SWE Diverse.
Discussing career as a woman in leadership
In this SWE Diverse episode, Heather Doty, FY21 president of SWE, speaks with Susan Uthayakumar about her career driving sustainability, efficiency and resiliency in the electronics industry and her role as a woman in leadership.
As President of the Sustainability Business Division at Schneider Electric, Susan is responsible for managing the Global Energy Sustainability Services as well as the sustainability consulting organization to deliver climate mitigation action to enterprise customers. Susan has been instrumental in transforming Schneider Electric to a digital power and automation technology company driving sustainability, efficiency and resiliency.
Starting in mergers and acquisitions for North America, Susan went on to lead finance for North America, the low voltage and channel business for Canada and national sales for Canada and was appointed the Canada Country President in 2018.
Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Susan led strategy and M&A projects globally with McCain Foods Limited, an international leader in the frozen food industry employing over 20,000 people and operating 57 production facilities in six continents with annual sales of $6 billion. Susan also held various leadership positions with Deloitte, a global advisory firm.
Susan has extensive board experience with both for-profit and industry boards, where she is dedicated to driving reduction in carbon emissions using technological solutions, enhancing electrical grid innovation, safety and operational efficiency. Susan is passionate about developing future business leaders and is a champion of weaving diversity and inclusion (D&I) into the Schneider Electric company fabric through her active membership on the company’s D&I board.
Working to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace
She is a strong advocate for the UN Women Empowerment Principles and is working to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace and to increase labor participation among under-represented populations. Susan believes in using her work and her platform to drive impact both in business and in her community, championing innovation, advocating for women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and building the leaders of tomorrow.
Susan has an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with a focus on international business practices. In addition, she holds a Master of Accounting (MAcc) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo. Susan has also completed the Women’s Senior Leadership Program and Executive Scholar Certification from the Kellogg School of Management and holds the Chartered Accountant (CA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designations.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.