Leena Nair, a 52-year-old British citizen of Indian origin, scripted history when she was named the Global Chief Executive Officer for French luxury brand Chanel on December 14. Nair will be succeeding businesswoman Maureen Chiquet who held the same post for nine years from 2007 to 2016.
Nair has been given the charge of ensuring Chanel’s “long term success as a private company,” the company said in a statement, recognising her as a “visionary leader whose ability to champion a long-term, purpose-driven agenda is matched with a consistently strong record of business outcomes.”
Nair, born in 1969 in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, pursued her Engineering degree, specialising in Electronics and Telecommunications, from Walchand College in Sangli. In 1992, she graduated with MBA in Human Resources, with a Gold Medal from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Leena Nair started her career with Unilever as a Management Trainee and spent almost 30 years in the company. According to media reports, she was one of the rare female employees who opted for a factory role. She has worked in HUL’s factories in West Bengal’s Kolkata, Tamil Nadu’s Ambattur and Maharashtra’s Taloja.
In June 2007, she assumed the Executive Director of Unilever South Asia Leadership team – becoming the first woman to be appointed to the position.
Five years later, she took over as Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion. In March 2016, she became the first woman to be appointed the Chief Human Resources Officer.
“The first female, first Asian, youngest-ever CHRO of Unilever,” reads 52-year-old Indian-born British national Leena Nair’s LinkedIn profile.
In an Instagram post, Nair called former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi a friend and a mentor.
