Being a Fortune 500 CEO is an elite feat that’s remarkable for a woman in her own right — there are just 27 of them as of January 2018 — but even more so for a black woman. In fact, Burns was the first black woman to serve as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Being a Fortune 500 CEO is an elite feat that’s remarkable for a woman in her own right — there are just 27 of them as of January 2018 — but even more so for a black woman. In fact, Burns was the first black woman to serve as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.