Xerox’s former chief executive, Ursula Burns, became the first in 2007 before leaving office in 2017. Former chief executive Mary Winston’s term of office lasted only about six months in 2019 before she was replaced by former Target merchandising director, Mark Tritton.
Today, there are only four African Americans actively serving as CEOs of the Fortune 500, including Brewer. Kenneth Frazier has served as head of Merck since 2011. There is also Lowe’s chief executive, Marvin Ellison, and TIAA-CREF CEO, Roger Ferguson Jr., who is stepping down. JPMorgan Chase executive Thasunda Brown Duckett, a black woman, is due to replace Ferguson on May 1.
Duckett and Brewer are among the insignificant 3.3% of senior leaders and black executives who currently work in corporate America, according to data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A new black female CEO is a game changer for black leaders and the corporate world, according to Michael C. Hyter, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, a nonprofit organization that works to increase the number of black executives and board executives.
“Diversity at the top drives diversity across the company,” Hyter told CNN Business over the weekend. “There is a tendency among CEOs to form senior executives who look like themselves, requiring intentional efforts to sow succession plans with more diverse candidates with a proven track record.”
Who is Rosalind Brewer?
Brewer, 59, is the youngest of five children of General Motors plant workers George and Sally Gates in her hometown in Detroit in 1962. She grew up in Motor City before studying at Spelman College – one of the best colleges and universities historically of the country – in Atlanta, where he graduated in chemistry in 1984.
Married and a mother of two, she also attended the advanced management program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and earned additional degrees at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and Stanford Law School’s Directors’ College.
She spent 22 years working for a paper manufacturer Kimberly-Clark (KMB) where he started as a research technician and later assumed administrative functions. At Kimberly, she developed a strong understanding of packaged consumer goods and eventually became the company’s president of global manufacturing and operations.
In 2006, Brewer left Kimberly-Clark to become vice president of Walmart (WMT), where she climbed the corporate ladder again over the course of six years. Finally, she was named president of the Walmart US East business unit, leading a team responsible for more than $ 100 billion in annual revenue.
Sam’s Club story creator
Brewer made history in 2012 when she was appointed CEO of Sam’s Club, which is owned by Walmart, becoming the first woman and the first African American to lead the member-only deposit company.
“I was also impressed by Roz’s servile leadership when I visited stores with her,” said former Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke of Brewer at the time. “She always allows her team to speak, with a focus on how to best meet their needs. … She has strong strategic, analytical and operational skills and has successfully managed a large and complex business.”
Starbucks’ ‘glass ceiling destroyer’
In 2017, Starbucks invited Brewer to become its group president and chief operating officer, leading the company’s global marketing, technology, supply chain, product innovation and store development functions. During his tenure in 2018, the coffeemaker expanded its already massive presence in global retail and entered into a global coffee alliance agreement with Nestlé to increase the global reach of its packaged consumer goods.
Brewer also helped Starbucks to maximize its online marketing and retail efforts, as well as its customer engagement experiences. The company expanded its delivery service in China and other East Asian countries in 2018 and opened its 30,000th global store in March 2019.
Starbucks’ rigid digital pivot came in handy in 2020, when Covid-19 forced it to close hundreds of stores and switch to a sidewalk withdrawal strategy.
Champion of diversity
Throughout his career, Brewer has also been a relentless advocate for diversity in the corporate world. In 2015, it was eliminated online from
conservative after an interview with CNN anchor Poppy Harlow, after telling a story about the concern she felt when a Sam’s Club supplier sent a group composed entirely of white men to meet with her.
She was concerned that the supplier’s commitment to diversity did not match hers, so she called one of the company’s leaders to address the problem.
“Every now and then, you need to poke your partners,” said Brewer during the interview. “You have to talk and talk openly. And I try to use my platform for that.”
The details of the conversation were not revealed during the interview, which caught the attention of conservatives on Twitter. Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon defended Brewer from critics who suggested his comments were somehow racist.
“Roz was simply trying to reiterate that we believe that diverse and inclusive teams contribute to a stronger business,” McMillon wrote in a statement. “That is all and I support that important ideal.”
Why Walgreens?
In addition to overseeing the launch of Walgreens’ high-speed vaccine, Brewer is expected to drive the expansion of the company’s digital retail.
“This is clearly an area of expertise to which she should bring some institutional knowledge that should be useful,” said Michael Cherny, health technology and distribution analyst at Bank of America.
Walgreens outgoing CEO Steffano Pessina highly praised Brewer’s focus on customer experience and his e-commerce acumen in January, when his impending appointment was announced.
“His tireless focus on the client, talent development, operational rigor and strong experience in digital and technological transformation are exactly what [Walgreens] needs as the company enters its next chapter, “said Pessina.
