Karen Carter
Dow
CEO
CME Event Co-Chair
Karen S. Carter is Chief Executive Officer of Dow, a global materials science leader with approximately $40 billion in 2025 sales. She became CEO in July 2026 after serving as Chief Operating Officer and previously as President of Packaging & Specialty Plastics, where she advanced circular economy solutions and customer-driven innovation. Carter joined Dow in 1994 and has held senior roles spanning business operations, sales, marketing, human resources, and international leadership, including in Asia Pacific. She earlier served as Dow’s Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Howard University and a master’s degree in international business from DePaul University. Carter serves on the boards of Southwire and the Great Lakes Bay Region Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and is a member of the Business Roundtable, Business Council, and Executive Leadership Council. She has been recognized on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list (2026), Fortune Next to Lead (2025), and multiple Black Enterprise and EMpower leadership lists.
2026 CME STEM Leadership Awards Event Co-Chair
Karen S. Carter is Chief Executive Officer of Dow, a world-leading materials science company with 2025 sales of approximately $40 billion.
Carter has helped shape Dow’s transformation to deliver a step change in growth and productivity through simplifying how the Company operates and streamlining end-to-end processes.
Carter was named CEO-elect in April 2026 before becoming CEO in July 2026. Prior to becoming CEO, Carter served as Dow’s Chief Operating Officer. In her role as COO, she had executive oversight for driving business and operational performance across the organization, including Dow’s three business operating segments, with a focus on strengthening customer engagement and relationships, accelerating the commercialization of Dow’s innovation pipeline, and enhancing the Company’s reliability and service to customers.
Carter joined Dow in 1994 and has held a broad range of leadership positions in her more than 30-year career with Dow, including business operations, sales and marketing, and human resources. Her career features international experience in Asia Pacific and extensive global business leadership positions within Building and Construction, Polyethylene, Engineering Thermoplastics, Fabricated Products, Information Technology Equipment, and Consumer Electronics.
Prior to becoming COO, Carter served as President of Dow’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics (P&SP) operating segment, one of the world’s largest suppliers of polyethylene resins and functional polymers with more than $23 billion in annual sales. Under her leadership, P&SP delivered value growth through asset upgrades, capacity expansions, and improved reliability. In partnership with customers and brand owners, Carter led the development of innovative solutions that help enable a circular economy. This includes the launch of circular product lines, such as REVOLOOP™ Recycled Plastic Resinsopens in a new tab and INNATE™ Precision Packaging Resinsopens in a new tab, as well as the acquisition of Circulusopens in a new tab, a mechanical recycler, and significant strategic partnerships to secure and scale circular feedstock supply.
Carter previously served as Dow’s Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Inclusion Officer, where she successfully institutionalized a culture where all employees can grow and thrive, thereby fully contributing to Dow’s business strategy and long-term value growth.
Carter is on the Board of Directors of Southwireopens in a new tab, a leading manufacturer of wire and cable, and is a member of the Business Councilopens in a new tab, the Business Roundtableopens in a new tab, the US-China Business Councilopens in a new tab, and the Executive Leadership Councilopens in a new tab. She is also the Executive Committee Chair of the Catalyst Board of Advisorsopens in a new tab, a member of the Governing Council of the Alliance to End Plastic Wasteopens in a new tab, and on the Board of Directors for the Great Lakes Bay Region Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Within Dow, Carter is the executive sponsor of the Global African Affinity Network, Dow’s employee resource group representing colleagues of African heritage as well as allies.
Carter has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Howard University and a master’s degree in international business from DePaul University.
In 2018, Carter was named to Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Diversity list and received Northwood University’s Distinguished Women Award. In 2019, she was named to Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women in Corporate America list. Since 2020, Carter has been recognized as one of the 100 Ethnic Minority Executives on the EMpower Ethnic Minority Role Model Listsopens in a new tab supported by Yahoo! Finance. In 2023, Carter was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum Trailblazer Hall of Fameopens in a new tab. In 2025, Carter was named to the Fortune Next to Leadopens in a new tab list spotlighting 25 influential executives inside the Fortune 500, and in 2026 she was included in the Fortune Most Powerful Womenopens in a new tab list.
