UPS names newest members elected to its board of directors

UPS has revealed the names of its newest elected members to its board of directors.

Effective immediately, Kate Johnson, president at Microsoft US, and Russell Stokes (pictured), president and chief executive of GE Aviation Services and chair of GE Power Portfolio, join the board.

Johnson joins UPS’ Risk Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee; and Stokes joins the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

In her role at Microsoft, Johnson is responsible for growing the company’s solutions, services and support revenues across the public and private sectors in the US. Prior to working at Microsoft, she held executive leadership roles at GE and Oracle, as well as commercial and technology leadership roles at Red Hat, UBS Investment Bank and Deloitte Consulting.

Stokes joined GE in 1997 on its financial management programme and climbed the ranks. He is active in a number of Atlanta community-based organisations and is the former chair of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. 

William Johnson, chair of the UPS board of directors, commented: “Johnson and Stokes are talented and proven leaders, and they bring expertise that will enhance our board’s governance and stewardship of UPS.

“We welcome them to the board and look forward to the contributions they will make.” 

UPS chief executive Carol Tomé added: “We are particularly excited that these new board members come to us with a varied and diverse set of experiences and perspectives.

“Women now make up 40% of our board, and 25% of our board is ethnically diverse. Our goal is to drive inclusive leadership, and ultimately even better governance, decision making and performance.”

In addition, UPS noted that John Stankey is leaving the board “to focus on his responsibilities as chief executive AT&T Inc” — a position he was appointed to in July 2020. Stankey had served on the UPS board since 2014.

William Johnson added: “We also thank Stankey for his years of service to the UPS board of directors and his contributions to the company. His extensive experience in strategy, customer solutions, technology and operations were instrumental as UPS executed global strategies for growth, innovation and exceptional customer service.”