Devoted to women of color in business

Ursula Burns is a leader and a trailbreaker for all of us. In top management as an African-American woman, she is responsible for a tremendous amount of Xerox's revenue.

She first came to the company as a summer intern in mechanical engineering, in 1980. She had just graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of New York and then received a master of science from Columbia University.

Burns moved up the ladder after that first summer, achieving several increasing levels of responsibility, becoming senior vice president of Corporate Strategic Services in May 2000 and recently president of the Document Systems and Solutions Group.



She has a reputation as a straightforward, no-nonsense and no-flowery-language leader, especially in challenging situations. "If there was a moose in the room, Ursula would be the person to put it on the table," says colleague Quincy Allen, a VP of product development.

Burns is quoted as saying,"If I keep focused on what I need to do today, the future will take care of itself."  We can all learn from this powerful woman in business.