Rosalind “Roz” Brewer is a trailblazer.
While Brewer has proven to be a corporate catalyst through her various high-ranking positions, it was her parents who set an example of excellence, both working at General Motors. In particular, her father worked several jobs simultaneously to support her education along with that of her siblings.
“He didn’t have the choice to pursue even his high school diploma, but eventually achieved a significant management role in the auto industry. He displayed so much discipline and dedication to excellence,” Brewer, a Michigan native, explained in a Q&A with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, where she is part owner.
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Brewer would go on to display the same characteristics she admired about her father. She attended Spelman College, graduating in 1984 with a degree in chemistry, before pursuing further education at the Director’s College at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Stanford Law School, and the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, according to MasterClass.
Career Trajectory
In 1984, Brewer began her career as a scientist in nonwoven technology and product development at Kimberly-Clark, a company known for its personal care and medical products. She remained at Kimberly-Clark for 22 years, steadily rising through the ranks with roles such as market manager, director of skin care, and vice president of nonwovens between 1988 and 1998. During the final stretch of her tenure, she served as president for manufacturing and operations, and then eventually became global president of Kimberly-Clark, Bloomberg states.
“This role was manufacturing and operations around the world, so I ran the global facilities that brought in the base sheet engineering,” Brewer said in an interview with journalist and actress Shaun Robinson. “So you look at a diaper, there’s a soft sheet next to the baby’s bottom and all that, those are the materials that I have responsibility for around the world for health care, infant care, child care, all of those businesses. And so what really grew me for that role was being in long-range research from the very beginning, understanding their technology really well but then having spent a good more than 10 years on the business side. So I was ready at that point to take on a sector leadership role in operations.”
Making History
Following her post at Kimberly-Clark, Brewer joined Walmart as its regional vice president and later was named the president of Walmart East, with profit and loss responsibilities totaling $110 billion. She credits the skills from her background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for positioning her for success in the role, particularly analytics and problem identification. Brewer also made history, becoming the first woman and first Black individual to lead a Walmart division with her next promotion to Sam’s Club president and CEO, The Carolina Newspaper, mentions.
While leading Sam’s Club from 2012 to 2017, she helped to improve its digital technology and shoppers’ experience, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Her next career move was becoming Starbucks Coffee Co.’ss chief operating officer and group president, which was the second-highest ranking role at the company, the Black Economic Alliance reports. Brewer’s resume at Starbucks included managing its Western Hemisphere businesses and establishing racial bias training in over 8,000 stores, according to Forbes.
By 2021, Brewer transitioned into another historic role when she was named CEO of the Walgreens Boots Alliance. She was the third Black woman to ever lead a Fortune 500 company and the only Black woman to hold a C-suite title in the S&P 500 at the time of her appointment. However, Brewer has been vocal about wanting to see greater representation within these roles and doesn’t glorify the reality of being the “first.”
“I’m more disappointed than I am surprised,” she said during an interview with The Economic Club of Washington D.C. “I’m not surprised because I know what it took for me to get here, and I know the trials and tribulations that I’ve been through, and I’m not quite sure a lot of people would want to withstand that. But I would tell you that the disappointing part is that this is just totally ridiculous that there’s only two of us, I think. It’s going to go beyond mentoring and sponsoring. It’s filling the pipeline effectively, getting people of different races in operating roles, and having the confidence that you know that they can do it because they absolutely can.”
As for her responsibilities at Walgreens Boots Alliance, she stepped in during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had administered 70 million COVID-19 shots. Brewer was tasked with scaling its presence in primary, specialty, and urgent care. This included buying the practices of primary physicians, such as Summit Health in the New Jersey/ New York area, she said during her interview with The Economic Club . Walgreens reportedly became one of the largest primary care practices in the nation.
Brewere also helped to reimagine the company’s priorities, improve its technology for team members and customers, and made health care more affordable to underserved communities.
“What I saw was a rare opportunity to help end the pandemic and to help reimagine local health care and wellbeing for all,” she said, according to Health Evolution. “Seven months later, we launched the company’s new purpose, vision, values and strategic priorities… I’m particularly focused on affordable, accessible health care for all, including in traditionally medically underserved communities. Health care is inherently local, and all communities should have equitable access to care.”
Leadership Style
Reflecting on her various leadership roles over the years, Brewer believes her success has been due to the fact that she does not solely lead from the confines of her hierarchy. She is comfortable working side by side with the individuals she guides.
“Many times leaders get caught up between sitting in the ivory tower and not respecting or understanding the work of the people that work the hardest for you,” she expressed in her conversation with Shaun Robinson. “I have never let that happen to me in my career because it was my parents who worked on the assembly line at general motors, who you know did that menial labor. That I think about every day, and I think about the baristas at Starbucks that do the hardest work for us every day working every combination of a beverage… So I feel so compelled to do the smallest of jobs and the biggest of jobs, and I think that has garnered a lot of respect and a lot of followership from the people who have worked for me because they know that when times get tough or if it’s an average day, I’m gonna push away from my table and I’m gonna go work in a store. I did that at Sam’s Club. I’ve thrown trucks (loaded packages) at Walmart at midnight, and I’ve served as a barista when they need me.”
Championing DEI
Brewer has also championed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and like others she became even more intentional with its execution following George Floyd’s death as the result of police brutality in 2020. While leading Starbucks, decisions she implemented included increasing access to mental health for communities and employees as well as the aforementioned racial bias training, but she admits more could have been done in this area.
At Walgreens Boots Alliance, she saw the value in ensuring the company’s teams were diverse, understanding it would be key for innovating for the future.
“I get the opportunity to put a diverse financial team to a growing diverse tech team in the room,” she said in her first year with Walgreens, according to HBR. “Diversity of thought is happening around the problem to solve, and then the cultures are coming together. And hopefully, we’ll move all of those opportunities up. But it’s about creating these agile teams and putting them against the unique problems to solve. And forcing them to relate to each other and think about how to solve it.”
Board Roles
Brewer’s experience has led to her joining various boards such as for United Airlines, the KIPP Foundation for Public Chartered Schools, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Her past board experience includes Amazon, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Molson Coors, and also Spelman College, which led to the creation of the Rosalind Gates Brewer Scholarship, a program that supported first-generation college students, according to BET. She served on the board for 12 years, and in 2024 she was named Spelman College’s interim president.
“Through this transition, my focus is on guiding Spelman forward by supporting leadership, maintaining stability and ensuring we continue to meet the needs of our students,” Brewer said, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “We’ll build on our strengths while embracing change as we chart the best path for Spelman’s future. It’s a privilege to give back to the institution that has given me so much, even as I continue to grow in my own career journey.”
AFROTECH™ Future 50 List
Brewer has been recognized by AFROTECH™ as a Legacy Leader, a prestigious recognition reserved for individuals in tech who exemplify the qualities of a Future 50 honoree, including:
- Dynamic Investors
- Future Makers
- Visionary Founders
- Changemakers
- Corporate Catalysts
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If you believe you belong on the AFROTECH™ Future 50 list, it’s not too late to submit to be considered. You have until April 11, 2025, to apply.
