Helena Helmersson
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Helena Helmersson (born 1973) is a Swedish business executive. Since 2010, she has been head of sustainability at the Swedish retail clothing company H&M,[1] and since 2020 she is its CEO.[2]
Biography
Born in Skellefteå in the north of Sweden she grew up with her family (her parents and two sisters), Helmersson graduated with a master's degree in international business administration at the Umeå School of Business and Economics in 1997.[1] On joining H&M in 1997, she became a section manager in the buying office before she went to Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2007 where she was H&M's production manager. After a further period serving as their department manager for underwear production in Hong Kong until 2010 when she returned to Stockholm to be manager for social responsibility and supply.[3][4]
She was appointed CEO of H&M on 30th January, 2020. Helmersson's current responsibilities cover the improvement of the social and environmental sustainability of supply, contributing to H&M's sustainability strategy which was initially implemented in the 1990s.[5]
On 5 March 2014, Helmersson was elected Sweden's "Most Powerful Woman in Business" by the weekly business magazine Veckans Affärer.[1] Interviewed by Alan Atkisson of GreenBiz, she commented: "I'm super proud and very happy. There is a gigantic amount of teamwork behind everything we do, and I take this as proof that it's been visible."[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Alumna from Umeå University is named most powerful woman in business". Umeå University. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ^ "Stefan Persson lämnar som styrelseordförande i H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB vid årsstämman och föreslår att Karl-Johan Persson efterträder honom. Helena Helmersson har utsetts till ny vd" (in Swedish). 2020-01-30. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30.
- ^ "Helena Helmersson: Chief Sustainability Officer, H&M". Business of Fashion. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ^ "Speaker: Helena Helmersson". BSR. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ^ "Helena Helmersson: Head of Sustainability – H&M". Nordic Fashion Association. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Atkisson, Alan (29 April 2014). "How She Leads: H&M's Helena Helmersson". GreenBiz.