Mary Barra Went From GM’s Student Education Program to CEO

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, who came from humble beginnings in the company’s student education program, is taking the company into the future.
Written by Allison Stone
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Mary Barra was ranked as Forbes’ “fifth-most powerful woman in the world,” and her place on the list has been well-earned. Current CEO of General Motors, Barra grew up in the time when the thought of a woman at the helm of one of “Big Three”
automakers
—General Motors, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler—was inconceivable. 
Her tenacious work ethic throughout a storied career has now solidified her as one of the most important leaders the legacy automaker has ever had. 

Marry Barra came from humble beginnings

According to a story from
Leaders.com
, Barra came from humble beginnings as the daughter of a first-generation Finnish American Ray Makela. Makela worked as a die maker at Pontiac for nearly 40 years. 
Born just outside of Detroit at the epicenter of the American automotive world, its not surprising that Barra entered the industry herself, but her ascent to the top was one that changed the industry forever. 
Now Barra is in charge of ushering GM into yet another new era—accelerating the company’s plans for electrification. 
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From student to CEO

In an interview with
Freakonomics
, Barra spoke on her time at GM which started 40 years ago as a student in the company’s cooperative-education program then known as General Motors Institute, now Kettering University. 
She got an electrical engineering degree and starting working as a quality inspector on a Pontiac assembly line. It was the very same factory where her father used to work. 
Slowly, Barra rose through the ranks while GM went through its own ups and downs. From 1931 until 2007, G.M. was the biggest automaker in the world, but the brand was hit hard as the U.S. suffered its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Still, Barra saw things through even as the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. 
In 2014, Barra took the role as GM’s first female CEO, and immediately began to look for ways to revitalize the brand with an emphasis on advancing technology and employee empowerment. In one infamous move, Barra changed the then 20-page dress code to two words: “dress appropriately.” 
“I think empowering people and knowing you trust them—but you also are going to hold them accountable to do the right thing—I think just creates a different mindset,” said Barra. 

The challenges aren’t over for GM and Marry Barra

Following the beginnings of the COVID-19 crisis in January of 2020, Barra has a new set of challenges on her plate. In the wake of a global crisis, she decided the best plan of action would be to build out and accelerate GM’s eltrification plans, and set a goal to have an all-electric fleet by 2035.
While it may seem like GM is far behind some of its most robust competitors such as Tesla, GM has actually been prototyping electric cars since the 1980’s, and came out with the first mass-produced electric vehicle, the EV1, in 1996. 
When it comes to the future of the company, Barra is approaching electrification with a stringent budget. Under Barra’s leadership, G.M.’s global workforce from 219,000 to 164,000 in an effort to reserve more money towards its electrification plan. 
In addition to building out the company’s electric vehicle infrastructure, Barra looks towards autonomous vehicles as another realm of opportunity for innovation.  

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