APACC BOARD OF DIRECTORS BIO

Board Director

Mr. Christopher Naidoo

President, Sigma Holdings

Christopher Naidoo is the founder and President of Sigma

Holdings, comprising Sigma International, a Tier 1 decorative trim

automotive supplier, and Sigma Luminous, an LED lighting supplier.

He was born and raised in South Africa during apartheid, and resides in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Sigma

International has a global presence in South Africa, India, and South Korea, and is expanding into China.

Christopher holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and a Master’s

Degree in International Business from Wayne State University. In addition, he completed programs at

Singularity University, an Entrepreneurial Master’s Program at MIT and a finance program at Wharton.

Christopher started his career at Chrysler International in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. He held a variety

of assignments at Chrysler that focused on Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Assignments

included the establishment and setup of Chrysler South Africa post-apartheid, and the appointment of

dealers to sell the Jeep and Chrysler product range. Other assignments included development of a

counter trade strategy to price position Chrysler and Jeep products competitively in the local market.

Christopher was also a manager for Chrysler's South American Mercosul and Andean pact expansion in

Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, which involved the setup of two new assembly plants.

Christopher then continued his automotive career working for Ford Motor Company where he again held

a variety of assignments. These included managing implementations of systems at Ford Motor Company

suppliers in the NAFTA region. After that, Christopher was then appointed Global Manager for Ford

Customer Service Division where he was responsible for implementing digital strategies at FCSD globally.

After leaving Ford, Christopher launched Sigma International. Sigma International is a Tier 1 interior and

exterior decorative trim supplier to companies such as Subaru, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Autoliv, Toyoda

Gosei, Cummins and Navistar. During the economic downturn, Christopher established Sigma Luminous,

an LED Lighting company, to diversify the organization and position the company to take advantage of

the growing push for green, sustainable energy solutions.

Sigma has been recognized by the auto industry as an innovative, minority-owned supplier with cutting

edge technology. The company was also recently recognized by Google as one of the best digital marketing

efforts for its LED business. Christopher served as a forum chair for the Detroit Entrepreneur’s Business

Forum. He also holds board positions at the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, where he

co-chairs the learning committee, AIESEC Michigan, which is an international student exchange program

for students interested in commerce and economics, and YPO (Young Presidents Organization) where he

is the chair for learning. He holds a variety of positions in community charitable organizations such as St.

Vincent de Paul. Christopher’s passion is in teaching and helping develop new entrepreneurs. He is

actively involved in the EO’s entrepreneurship accelerator program designed for small businesses.