Deidra Merriwether

Deidra (Dee) Merriwether is a highly skilled leader with deep business insights garnered over a 25-year career across different industries. Currently Grainger’s Chief Financial Officer, Dee is known for her commitment to delivering top quartile business results and developing highly effective teams.

Grainger, with revenues of $17.2 billion, serves businesses and institutions across North America, Japan and the U.K., by providing them the products and services they need to keep their operations running and people safe. Since joining Grainger in 2013, Dee has led many critical areas of the company including pricing, sales, field operations and indirect procurement, driving customer engagement and retention while expanding operating margins for the company. As CFO since 2021, Dee oversees the company’s financial activities including investor relations and is also responsible for corporate strategy, analytics and running the Grainger business in the U.K., Cromwell.

Dee started her career as an engineer and production leader at Eli Lilly and after pursuing an MBA, gained valuable accounting and M&A experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She also held roles of increasing responsibility in general management and finance at Sears Holdings, departing as Chief Operating Officer in 2013.

Dee is as committed to sharing her expertise and insights as she is to business excellence. She currently serves on the board of directors of Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest timberlands operators, as well as the board of trustees for Ravinia, an internationally renowned not-for-profit music festival. She is also a member of Women Corporate Directors, The Chicago Network, North Carolina A&T State University’s Chancellor Advisory Council and chairs the Finance and Budget committee of the North Carolina A&T Aggie Athletic Foundation.

Dee earned an MBA in Finance and Operations Management from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. She is also a graduate of the Executive Accounting Program at the University of Texas and a fellow of the CEO Perspectives and CFO Leadership programs at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and the Harvard Business School, respectively.