Julie Sweet is a businesswoman and lawyer born in 1966 in the United States and currently serves as CEO of Accenture, a multinational company that provides services and consulting in information technology, being one of the 500 most important and influential companies in the world.
Sweet, like some of the women who have begun leading the gender revolution from within major companies, has been recognized by newspapers and magazines as a very powerful woman and a prominent advocate for gender equality within organizations.
What did Sweet study?
Sweet was raised in California and completed her primary and secondary education at Tustin High School, where she stood out in debate and public speaking, according to sources close to the businesswoman’s biography. Usually, CEOs or executive directors of companies show their talents or abilities from a very young age.
Later, during university, she earned a Bachelor of Arts from Claremont McKenna College and then a Juris Doctor from Columbia University. Before working as a business executive and leading one of the world’s most important companies, she started her path as a lawyer.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a law firm based in New York. A firm in this profession refers to an office or legal group with thousands of lawyers who provide services to advise or support different clients.
In this case, Sweet spent several years at this New York firm before landing at Accenture. She worked there for 17 years, and during the last ten, she became an exclusive partner—a major milestone, especially since she became the ninth woman to be named to that rank.
At the law firm, there are many work opportunities and issues to manage. The Californian worked in the corporate sector of companies and organizations that merge or acquire a stake. In addition, much of her work focused on legal advisory. After 17 years at the forefront of her profession, her biggest challenge arrived: Accenture.
Accenture
In 2010, Julie Sweet joined Accenture as the company’s general counsel, a major step in her professional career. During that time, and over the years, the American also held positions as general advisor and secretary.
Since joining the company, her name has become known in the highest circles. After 2010, the year she started at the company, she became part of the global team and has been involved in Accenture’s mergers and acquisitions. This was the same role she had for years at the previous law firm.
Not only that, but Sweet herself was the one who developed Accenture’s strategy for mergers and acquisitions with other companies—a key area that yielded great results for the company. For that reason, in 2015, she became the CEO of the company’s North American business.
This step was not just another promotion within the company—it meant taking responsibility for running the company’s largest market, since the company is based in the United States and operates primarily in the country and Canada. And as if that weren’t enough, in 2019 she was appointed CEO of the company.
Among the statements from the company’s top authorities, they have highlighted Sweet’s leadership and experience in running the organization, in addition to her outstanding work with clients and business relationships. For all these reasons, she has been CEO for five years. By 2021, she added a new title as chair of Accenture.
Why is she known for gender equality? In the long term, Sweet has stated that she aims to have a workforce equally divided between men and women. Because of this movement, the Californian has been recognized for her role in diversity by several magazines and websites.
The New York Times and Fortune magazine are among the outlets that have ranked Sweet among the most powerful women in the world, whether for her experience at the law firm or for becoming CEO of Accenture, where she has worked for more than 14 years.