On 1 July 2026, Karen S. Carter officially assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Dow Inc., succeeding Jim Fitterling, who moves into the role of Executive Chair of the Board. Carter also joined Dow’s Board of Directors on the same day, with Richard Davis continuing as Independent Lead Director.
The appointment is historic on multiple counts. Carter is the first woman to lead Dow in the company’s 129-year history, and one of just three Black female Fortune 500 CEOs currently in office, alongside Thasunda Brown Duckett at TIAA and Joi Harris at DTE.
She takes the helm of a business generating approximately $40 billion in annual sales, operating manufacturing sites across 29 countries, and employing 34,600 people worldwide.
A 32-YEAR JOURNEY: FROM INTERN TO CEO
Carter’s story at Dow began in 1994, when she joined the company as an intern, fresh out of Howard University. Over the next three decades, she rose through nearly every function of the enterprise, business operations, sales and marketing, human resources, and international leadership across Asia Pacific, building what Fortune has described as “a uniquely holistic perspective” on Dow’s global business.
Her leadership footprint spans Building and Construction, Polyethylene, Engineering Thermoplastics, Fabricated Products, Information Technology Equipment, and Consumer Electronics. In her most recent operational role as President of Dow’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics (P&SP) segment, the company’s largest business at over $23 billion in annual sales, she led value growth through asset upgrades, capacity expansions, and the launch of landmark circular-economy solutions including REVOLOOP™ Recycled Plastic Resins and INNATE™ Precision Packaging Resins.
Prior to leading P&SP, Carter served as Dow’s Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer, a period during which she institutionalised the company’s inclusive culture at a global scale. She was appointed Chief Operating Officer in December 2024, becoming the first woman to hold that title at Dow.
She also holds a master’s degree in international business from DePaul University.
Carter’s leadership has been consistently recognised across some of the world’s most prominent business platforms. She was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list (2026) and Fortune’s Next to Lead list (2025), and has been featured on Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women in Corporate America list and the EMpower Ethnic Minority Role Model List.
Beyond Dow, she serves on the Board of Directors of Southwire, is a member of the Business Roundtable and the U.S.-China Business Council, chairs the Business Leaders Committee of Michigan’s Black Leadership Advisory Council, and chairs the Catalyst Board of Advisors.
Sources: Dow Inc., Fortune, Essence, Black Enterprise, Women’s Tabloid, CHEManager, HR Today, LinkedIn.
