FedEx CEO Ramona Hood is the first Black woman to lead the company in its history.
Hood, who was previously the company’s Vice President of operations, strategy, and planning, was promoted to President and CEO of FedEx Custom Critical in 2020, which provides same-day and overnight expedited freight delivery.
Ramona Hood was a 19-year-old single mother looking for a regular day job while attending night classes before becoming CEO of a FedEx company.
“I just wanted a schedule that would be consistent,” she recalled.
She began working for the company, which was then known as Roberts Express, in 1991 as a receptionist, a company which later became FedEx Custom Critical,
It didn’t take her long to turn that short-term employment into a long-term pursuit of leadership, culminating in her most promotion.
She has always demonstrated great leadership potential and has held various positions in operations, safety, sales, and other areas.
She admitted to being “pretty intentional and purposeful with gaining experience” in the company along the way.
Hood gradually began to offer innovative and strategic ideas that set her apart from her peers.
For example, in the early 2000s, she was the one who spearheaded the program that allows FedEx Custom Critical employees to work from home.
She stated, “At that time, it was not common to have call centres where you would have individuals working from home. I looked at our processes and the technology that we had, and I realized nothing was preventing us from that.”
FedEx Custom Critical promoted Hood from vice president of operations, strategy, and planning to president and CEO on January 1, 2020, succeeding Virginia Addicott, who is retiring.
Hood is the first African American woman to lead a FedEx subsidiary.
Hood stated that under her leadership, Custom Critical will be more agile in meeting customer needs and utilizing technology, all while “looking at things in ways we haven’t in the past.”
Hood rose through the ranks, first as the head of FedEx Truckload Brokerage and then as an officer at FedEx Supply Chain in 2016. She then returned to FedEx Custom Critical for an executive position, completing a full circle after working as a receptionist there for years.
She has over 29 years of FedEx experience, a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Walsh University, and an Executive MBA from Case Western Reserve University.