Julie Sweet

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Julie Sweet
Sweet in 2019
Born
Julie Spellman

1966 or 1967 (age 56–57)
EducationClaremont McKenna College (BA)
Columbia University (JD)
TitleChair and CEO, Accenture
SpouseChad Creighton Sweet
Children2

Julie Terese Sweet (née Spellman, born 1966/1967)[1][2] is an American business executive and attorney. She is chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of Accenture, a multinational professional services company.[3]

The New York Times and Fortune have named her among the most powerful women in corporate America, crediting her for "working on creating true gender equality at the office".[4][5][6]

Early life and education[edit]

Sweet grew up in Tustin, California,[4] and was a speech and debate star at Tustin High School.[7] She holds a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School.[8]

Career[edit]

Prior to Sweet's work at Accenture, she was an attorney at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[9][10] She worked at the firm for 17 years and was partner for 10.[11][12] Sweet was the ninth woman ever to make partner at the firm.[9] She worked on financing, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate counsel.[13]

Accenture recruited Sweet as general counsel in 2010.[9] In 2015, she became CEO of Accenture's North America business, the company's largest market.[9] Since early in her career at Accenture, she served on the company's global management committee. Alongside then-CEO Pierre Nanterme, Sweet developed Accenture's mergers and acquisitions strategy.[14]

Accenture named Sweet its CEO effective September 2019, the first woman to hold that position.[15][16] She replaced interim CEO David Rowland.[16] At the time of her appointment, she was one of 27 women leading companies in the S&P 500[9] and the 15th female CEO of all Fortune Global 500 companies.[17][18] In September 2021, Sweet became chair of Accenture.[6]

Sweet has advocated for diversity, inclusion,[9] and workplace gender parity.[16] Sweet supports Accenture's goal to have a staff equally represented by men and women by 2025; as of 2019, 42 percent of Accenture's staff was female.[19] Sweet was named a top CEO for diversity by the website Comparably in 2019.[20] Sweet has called for addressing the skills gap in the U.S. and supported the national apprenticeship movement.[21] She participated in The New York Times's New Rules Summit.[4]

In addition to her work at Accenture, Sweet served on the boards for Catalyst,[22] the World Economic Forum,[23] the Business Roundtable, where she chairs the Technology Committee,[24] the Center for Strategic & International Studies, and the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities – Bridges from School to Work, as of 2022.[25]

The New York Times called Sweet "one of the most powerful women in corporate America" in 2019.[4] Fortune magazine included Julie Sweet in their top 10 “Most Powerful Women” list since 2016 and she was named No. 1 on the list for 2020.[26] Fortune noted Julie “steered Accenture’s more than half a million employees in 51 countries through the pandemic, a crisis that has made the company’s skills more essential than ever.” Julie Sweet has subsequently been ranked by Fortune magazine as No. 3 on the list for 2021[27] and No. 2 on the list for 2022.[28] In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League gave Sweet its 2024 Courage Against Hate Award.[29] In 2024, Sweet announced Accenture's plans to open 10 generative AI 'innovation hubs' around the world.[30]

Personal life[edit]

Sweet is married to Chad Creighton Sweet,[1] who was the campaign chairman of Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign. She has two daughters.[12][31] They live in Bethesda, Maryland.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Jaffee, Michelle Koidin (2004-10-10). "Julie Spellman and Chad Sweet". Weddings/Celebrations: Vows. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  2. ^ a b "Forbes profile: Julie Sweet". Forbes. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  3. ^ Gill, Kristine (2022-04-27). "How the best companies to work for are thriving despite the Great Resignation". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  4. ^ a b c d Gelles, David (2019-01-02). "Julie Sweet of Accenture Could See Her Future. So She Quit Her Job". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  5. ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune. 2020. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  6. ^ a b "Most Powerful Women". Fortune. 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  7. ^ The David Rubinstein Show, "Julie Sweet, Accenture Chair & CEO", S6:E28, 6 October 2021, Bloomberg TV, after 11 minutes 30 seconds.
  8. ^ Maake, Katishi. "Accenture taps Arlington-based Julie Sweet as global chief executive". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Gelles, David (2019-07-11). "Julie Sweet to Run Accenture, Adding a Woman to the Ranks of Corporate C.E.O.s". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  10. ^ "Accenture Taps Ex-Cravath Partner As New CEO". Law360. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  11. ^ Abadi, Mark (2019-01-04). "The CEO of a consulting firm says if 'you can see your future' at work, you may not be in the right career". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  12. ^ a b Horswill, Ian (2019-07-12). "Julie Sweet named first female CEO of Accenture". CEO Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  13. ^ "Accenture names Julie Sweet chief executive officer". Consulting.us. 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  14. ^ Prang, Allison. "Accenture Picks Julie Sweet as Chief Executive". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  15. ^ "Accenture names Julie Sweet as CEO". Reuters. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  16. ^ a b c Aliaj, Ortenca. "Accenture promotes North America boss to global CEO". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  17. ^ Hinchliffe, Emma (2019-07-22). "Women Lead Only 2.8% of Fortune Global 500 Companies". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  18. ^ "Transcript: The Path Forward: Digital Acceleration with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  19. ^ Dantes, Damanick (2019-01-08). "Accenture CEO: Diversity and Inclusion Start From Within". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  20. ^ Brown, Dalvin (2019-06-25). "Who are the best CEOs for minority workers? Heads of Intuit, T-Mobile, Google rank high". USA Today. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  21. ^ Murray, Alan (2019-07-11). "Accenture Names a New CEO: Julie Sweet". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  22. ^ "Board of directors". Catalyst. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  23. ^ "Julie Sweet". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  24. ^ Kahn, Jeremy (2022-01-26). "CEOs of America's biggest companies detail how to achieve 'responsible A.I.'". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  25. ^ "The Path Forward: Digital Acceleration with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet". The Washington Post. 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  26. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2020 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  27. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2021 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  28. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2022 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  29. ^ "You are being redirected..." www.adl.org. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  30. ^ "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2024-03-23. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  31. ^ "Julie Sweet". Working Mother. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2019-10-08.

External links[edit]