Jamaican Ann-Marie Campbell Started as a Cashier at Home Depot and is now Executive VP Overseeing Over 2,000 Stores

Jamaican-born Ann-Marie Campbell manages 2,200 Home Depot stores, more than 400,000 employees, and runs the company’s international operations for Canada and Mexico. Fortune named her to its Most Powerful Women in Business list from 2014-2020, and the 16th Most Powerful Women in 2020.

Campbell was born in Kingston, Jamaica, attended Holy Childhood High School, and worked in her grandmother’s small furniture store, which gave her a good grounding for a larger retail environment. She, her mother and siblings immigrated to the U.S. in 1981.

She attended Georgia State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in business administration. Campbell is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and the National Scholars Honor Society.

She began her career with Home Depot in South Florida as a cashier in 1985 and has been with the company ever since, working in a variety of positions. Being a woman in a male-dominated field and a woman of color presented some special challenges, but her confidence and determination didn’t deter her from her upward trajectory. She approaches every job and task from a fact-based perspective.

Ann-Marie Campbell Home Depot US
Ann-Marie Campbell Home Depot U.S.

Her assertiveness and knowledge impressed Home Depot Vice-President, Lynn Martin, who was at the store for a walk-through and Martin became her mentor. When Hurricane Andrew destroyed much of the city in 1992, Campbell managed the store in the parking lot, using bricks, building materials, and mobile cash registers to help people obtain necessities.

Giving back is important to Campbell and she works with the company’s associates for a variety of projects that benefit their local communities. Campbell is the board chair of The Homer Fund operated by Home Depot that provides support for its employees experiencing unexpected financial difficulties. She also serves on the board of the Georgia Aquarium and Workday.

Campbell established the Ann-Marie Campbell Scholarship for undergrads at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at GSU. She’s served on the Board of Directors of Potbelly Corporation, the advisory boards of non-profit organizations Catalyst and J. Mack Robinson College of Business at GSU, and as a board member of the Metropolitan Atlanta chapter of the American Red Cross. She was also appointed an Independent Director at Barnes & Noble.

She married her husband, a chef from Oracabessa, Jamaica, in 1988. Black Enterprise named her one of the 75 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2010 and the Atlanta Business League named her one of the Atlanta’s 100 Top Black Women of Influence in 2012.