Do you know the story of struggle behind Ursula Burns's success?

 

Ursula Burns is an American business executive who served as CEO (2009–16) and chairman (2010–17) of the international document-management and business-services company Xerox Corporation, managing to turn a company once only known for paper copies into a viable and profitable business.

 

She has also been the chair and CEO of VEON from late 2018 to early 2020, a senior advisor to Teneo, and a non-executive director of Diageo since April 2018. She is also a member of the board of directors of Uber.

 

Ursula Burns made history as the first African American woman to lead a Fortune 500 company when she became CEO of Xerox in 2009. Her journey from a tough childhood in public housing to the top of this multibillion-dollar organization is an inspirational one for many.

 

Burns was raised by her mother in the downtown area of Manhattan. She used to work two shifts daily so as to send her children to school. Burns worked hard and grabbed admission at NYU. After graduating, she joined Xerox as a summer intern.

 

Her hard work, and determination to change the fortunes of her family paid-off as eventually, she rose through the ranks headed Xerox as CEO.

 

Here's her story in her own words:

I was raised by a wonderful mother in the rough and tumble public housing projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Many people told me I had three strikes against me: I was black. I was a girl. And I was poor.

 

Mom didn’t see it that way. She constantly reminded me “where I was didn’t define who I was.” She knew that education was my way up and out. On a modest salary, Mom somehow managed to send me to good Catholic schools. Back then I was prepared for one of three career options: nun, teacher, or nurse.

 

None of those paths felt quite right for me and I began to dream of becoming an engineer. I started out in chemical engineering, which I hated, and switched to mechanical engineering, which I loved. And, ever so slowly, I regained my footing.

 

My life since then has been a series of lean in moments: taking an internship with Xerox in upstate New York, going to an Ivy League school for a graduate degree, signing on with Xerox, and climbing the ladder to the top. As CEO, I pulled the trigger on a major acquisition, which has transformed Xerox from a copy and printing company to a technology and services enterprise.

 

From a young African-American girl from an impoverished neighborhood to a role model and a success story like few others, Ursula’s inspirational life story is also a dramatic one.

 

No matter what Burns does for the rest of her life, she already has a place in US history. She may not be Rosa Parks, inadvertently starting a revolution, but she is a symbol for American capitalism nevertheless: a role model representing a minority within a minority, serving as a guiding light for young women facing hardship and bias.

 

As she recently noted in an interview with Time magazine: “All of us now are pioneers. Every one of us.”

 

"Dreams do come true, but not without the help of others, a good education, a strong work ethic, and the courage to lean in. That’s why I spend so much time with organizations that help minorities and women gain the education and self-respect they need to take risks, to dream big, and, I hope, to someday pay it forward.'' - Ursula Burns