Cummins believes in making a positive impact in the communities where it operates through sustainable community support. While community support has been a priority since the company's founding, Cummins is modest and does not often publicize its philanthropic activities, so much of its good work goes unnoticed. The article profiles Schuyla Goodson Bell, the Managing Director of Cummins Southern Africa, who has lived in South Africa for 10 years and has led the region for almost two years. Originally from the US, she has a law background but decided to pursue a business leadership role after taking a career break to be a stay-at-home mother in South Africa.

1. COVER STORY
16 www.transformsa.co.za
Cummins believes in making a
positive and lasting impact on
the communities it operates
in by rendering sustainable
support. The Corporate
Responsibility (CR) initiative
has been in existence from
the company’s founding
days. Cummins however,
does not believe in telling its
story about all the good that
it does hence most of it goes
unnoticed.
Writer: Susan Chileshe Chanda
in Southern Africa
Redefining Leadership and Diversity
Cummins Inc. is a global power leader and
a corporation of complementary business
units that design, manufacture, distribute and
service diesel and natural gas engines and
related technologies. The operation which
is headquartered in the USA operates in 190
countries and employs about 54,600 people.
The Southern Africa region of the organisation
is comprised of 11 SADC countries with
the exception of Angola and has about 450
employees. The region with primary offices in
Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe
and Zambia is headed by a hands-on Managing
Director Schuyla Goodson Bell.
Originally from the USA, Schuyla has lived in
South Africa for 10 years and has been leading the
Cummins Southern Africa organisation for almost
two years. The trained lawyer always yearned to
lead a business thus came to South Africa with
that view etched in mind. Goodson Bell practiced
law for 18 years 5 of which were in South Africa for
a big multinational where she was in charge of the
company’s legal affairs for Southern Africa. When
it was time to transition back to the US, Schuyla
decided it wasn’t time to go home. Instead she
took a break for the first time in her career and
made a commitment to being a stay-at-home
mother for about six months. It was during this
period that she redefined why she had moved to
South Africa and eventually sought opportunities
to do something different with her career.
“I came to a point in my career where I had to make