Rosalind “Roz” Brewer continues to blaze new trails in corporate America as one of two Black females serving as a Fortune 500 company CEO. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Brewer is the youngest of five children who would be the first generation of her family to attend college. After graduating from Cass Technical High School, Brewer would enroll in Spelman College earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She would continue her education, graduating from the Director’s College at the University of Chicago Booth of Business/Stanford Law School and the Advanced Management Program from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. 

Upon graduating from Spelman College, Brewer would join Kimberly-Clark, a global paper-based product company, as a research technician. For more than two decades, Brewer would hold numerous leadership roles before serving as global president of Kimberly-Clark. Her expertise and dynamic leadership would shift her focus to the dominating retail powerhouse Walmart and Sam’s Club. For six years, Brewer would serve in numerous leadership capacities as she became president of Walmart East. She would get the opportunity to lead Sam’s Club, the members-only warehouse giant owned and operated by Walmart, becoming the first African American to lead a Walmart division. Continuing to make history, Brewer was nominated to the Starbucks board of directors and within months was named Starbucks COO and group president. She was the first African American and the first female to become the COO and group president of Starbucks, leading businesses and operations in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Brewer has the unique ability to see the big picture as she leads organizations to their most profitable gains, mostly through customer relations. In March 2021, Brewer would take the reins of the parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance during a pandemic. Her relentless dedication to the customer is what makes her a pivotal leader. In 2020, Fortune listed Brewer as the 27th Most Powerful Woman in the World. She would also be selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50 list of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and creators.