Rosalind “Roz” Brewer is one of the few Black women to ever lead a Fortune 500 company—but her path to the top was powered by a legacy of perseverance and a relentless commitment to excellence rooted in her family’s work ethic.
Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Brewer credits her parents, both employees of General Motors, for instilling discipline and drive. Her father, who didn’t have the opportunity to complete high school, worked multiple jobs to support the family and still rose to a significant management position. That example would prove foundational.
“He displayed so much discipline and dedication to excellence,” Brewer once shared in a Q&A with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, where she now serves as part owner.
Science and Strategy
Brewer graduated from Spelman College in 1984 with a degree in chemistry and later completed advanced leadership programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Stanford Law School, and Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
She began her career at Kimberly-Clark as a scientist and steadily climbed the ranks over 22 years to become global president, managing manufacturing and operations worldwide for personal care and health products.
In a candid interview with journalist Shaun Robinson, Brewer explained how her early years in long-range research equipped her to manage large-scale global operations.
Breaking Barriers in Corporate America
After Kimberly-Clark, Brewer made waves at Walmart, where she became president of Walmart East, overseeing $110 billion in revenue.
She later became the first Black person and the first woman to lead a Walmart division as president and CEO of Sam’s Club, where she focused on modernizing digital tech and improving customer experience.
From 2017 to 2021, she served as COO and group president of Starbucks, managing Western Hemisphere operations and launching racial bias training across more than 8,000 stores following the unjust arrest of two Black men in a Philadelphia location.
In 2021, Brewer was appointed CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance—making her just the third Black woman in history to lead a Fortune 500 company. Her tenure included managing the administration of 70 million COVID-19 vaccines and overseeing the company’s expansion into primary care with acquisitions like Summit Health.
“I’m more disappointed than surprised,” Brewer said in a 2021 interview about the lack of representation in the C-suite. “It’s going to go beyond mentoring… It’s filling the pipeline effectively.”
Grounded Leadership and DEI Advocacy
Brewer is known for her hands-on leadership style and for never losing touch with frontline workers. Whether throwing trucks at Walmart or brewing coffee at Starbucks, she’s led with humility and grit—traits shaped by her parents’ blue-collar backgrounds.
She has also been a vocal champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, increasing access to mental health care and building diverse, agile teams to address business challenges.
At Walgreens, she emphasized the importance of “diversity of thought” in driving innovation.
Giving Back and Building the Future
In addition to corporate leadership, Brewer has served on numerous boards, including United Airlines, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the KIPP Foundation, and previously Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Starbucks.
At her alma mater, Spelman College, she helped establish the Rosalind Gates Brewer Scholarship for first-generation college students.
In 2024, Brewer was appointed interim president of Spelman, the same institution where her journey began.
“It’s a privilege to give back to the institution that has given me so much,” she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
