Born on December 24th, 1961 in Royal Oak Michigan to parents of Finish descent, Mary Teresa Barra is
an American Businesswoman that has been the CEO of General Motors since 2014. She is considered the first-ever female CEO of
what's so-called the " Big three " automaker. Mary Barra received her school diploma from the " Waterford Mott " High School in Michigan.
Later on, Barra began her career as a General Motors Institute student also known as, Kettering university.
In 1985, she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering.
Due to Barra's high academic level, she was able to get into the engineering honor society " Tau Beta Pi ". In the year 1990,
she attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business on a General Motors fellowship, obtaining her Master's degree in
business administration.
Her job at General Motors began from a very young age. At 18 years old, Barra was working with
GM as a co-op student, her job mainly was to check fender panels and to inspect hoods. In February 2008, Barra became the
vice president of Global Manufacturing Engineering. However, In July 2009, she was able to obtain the position of vice president of global human recourses,
which she carried until 2011 when she earned the title of executive vice president of Global Product development.
This position included responsibilities for design and the minimizing of automobile platforms in GM. The extension of responsibilities in 2013
included Global purchasing and supply chain. Barra took over as chief executive of General Motors in January 2014, and that was
when she became the first ever female head of an automobile manufacturer. Barra is considered a huge part of the Board of Directors of the
Walt Disney Company, the Duke University Board of Trustees, and the Detroit Economic Club. On August 2014, she was elected to the board of Disney where
she would've been the fourth woman to do so. One of the foremost reasons why Barra reached such a high position is because of her forward-thinking
leadership style and ability to handle high-pressure situations, seeking to solve problems quickly and decisively without any hesitance. In spring 2020,
she shifted GM's production lines to help Ventec Life Systems make predominant ventilators. Barra helped GM grow as a company where she made GM
move into driverless and electric-powered cars through acquisitions counting Strobe, which is considered a startup in driverless technology.
In 2019, Barra earned the highest compensation of any leader of a Detroit Big Three Automaker where she earned 21.6 million dollars.
Barra currently lives in Northville, Detroit with her husband Tony Barra where she met while studying at Kettering university.
She is a mother of 2 children and owns 2 dogs. In 2013, Barra was listed as 35th on Forbes Most Powerful Women list 2013.