Women hold most of seats on General Motors expanded board of directors

General Motors on Thursday said it is expanding its board of directors to 13 persons, with women holding seven of the seats.

The company named two new directors, Meg Whitman and Mark Tatum.

Whitman, 64, is a tech executive and former Republican candidate for governor of California. Most recently, she was chief executive of media startup Quibi. Before that, she was CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Hewlett-Packard and previously served as president and CEO of eBay.

Whitman also is a director at consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, whose 13-person board consists of six women.

Tatum, 51, is serving as the incumbent Deputy Commissioner of the National Basketball Association under Adam Silver.

Whitman and Tatum join the board of General Motors as it is engaged in a sweeping transformation of its products and business lines.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the automaker’s diverse board “is a competitive advantage for GM as we work to deliver a better, safer and more sustainable world”.