Susan E. Chapman

Global Chief
Administrative Officer
Citi Inc., Citi Realty Services
New York City

To Susan E. Chapman, obstacles are temporary roadblocks that can be knocked down. She learned this the first time a job didn’t work out as she hoped it would. Chapman took this as an opportunity to learn how to navigate around challenges. “I can only do my best and if something is not working out, I have to have the courage to step out and do something else,” she says. “The only thing standing between me and the success that I want for me is me.”

This can-do attitude keeps Chapman at the top of her game as the global chief administrative officer at Citi Inc., Citi Realty Services. In this position, she leads the global functions for an 84-million-square-foot portfolio of some 13, 500 properties in more than 100 countries and with more than 300,000 employees. This might sound like hard work, but not to Chapman, to whom leadership seems to come naturally. She has several mentees and cites her team members’ triumphs as some of her proudest professional moments. “The most important work I do is creating a pipeline for folks to come behind me,” she says. “I am very appreciative of the many opportunities that have been afforded me. I have to share it with others.”

Before joining Citi in 2004, Chapman was the director of global real estate and procurement at Level 3 Communications Inc. She also has professional experience in investment banking and finance.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Vanderbilt University, a master’s in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a master’s in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To stay on her path of success, Chapman makes a point of each day accomplishing one thing that takes her closer to the goals she has for herself. “These things keep me focused and on the right path,” she says.