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rosalind-brewer

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'Discipline And Dedication To Excellence' Propelled Rosalind 'Roz' Brewer To Become One Of Few Black Women CEOs In Fortune 500

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.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) 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,...

Apr 11, 2025

AFROTECH™ Wants To Celebrate Those Who Are Redefining What’s Possible In The Tech Industry On Its 2025 Future 50 List

We are giving our flowers to Black leaders who are shaping the future. Established in 2022, the AFROTECH™ Future 50 list will commemorate innovators, visionaries, founders, venture capitalists, technologists, and changemakers in the technology sector who have made historic strides, lifted as they climbed to create a more inclusive future, and are transforming their sectors and communities. AFROTECH™ Future 50 Categories There are five categories for submission. The Dynamic Investors category highlights venture capitalists who have not only driven strong returns but have also championed underrepresented founders in technology. A prime example is Charles Hudson, founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, which manages over $175 million in assets and has made more than 413 investments, according to Carta. Next, the Future Makers category will honor Black professionals who have achieved historic firsts, earned industry recognition, launched groundbreaking products, measured...

Mar 26, 2025

Dr. Helene Gayle Resigns As Spelman College President After Previously Taking A Leave Of Absence

Spelman College president Dr. Helene Gayle will not return after taking a leave of absence and is stepping down permanently, the college announced on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. The institution did not disclose the reasons for her initial leave or her decision to resign, according to The Associated Press. In a statement, Gayle expressed gratitude for the opportunity to lead Spelman. “I thank the larger Spelman community for this magnificent opportunity to serve as president. I have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the outstanding students and future world leaders who have chosen to attend Spelman College,” Gayle said in a statement, per the AP. “I look forward to my next chapter.” As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Gayle became president in 2022, succeeding Mary Schmidt Campbell. After her leave of absence was announced in October 2024, Rosalind “Roz” Brewer assumed the role of interim president. The Spelman Board of Trustees said they are in the process of selecting a new president,...

Nov 26, 2024

Founder Shontay Lundy Opens Up About One Regret She's Had While Building Black Girl Sunscreen

Shontay Lundy has revealed she has only one regret in her journey as a founder. Lundy’s brainchild,  Black Girl Sunscreen, launched with a personal investment of $33,000, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The company offers products designed to provide hydration without leaving a white residue—a common issue encountered by many in the Black community when applying sunscreen. It was this gap in the market that incentivized Lundy. “I’m a woman of the sun, the time I was living in Miami, I currently live in Los Angeles. I love being on the beach. It was ‘Okay, what do you think about sunscreen?’ My friends would offer me sunscreen and I would tell them, ‘Do you see my complexion? That sh-t don’t work on this complexion,'” she explained during a conversation on with AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas on the Black Tech Green Money podcast. “So I jumped on the computer and just started to type in keywords, sunscreen for ethnic skin. Sunscreen for Black girls. Sunscreen for brown girls....

Nov 5, 2024

Spelman College Alumna Rosalind 'Roz' Brewer Becomes Its Interim President Following Dr. Helene D. Gayle's Exit

Rosalind “Roz” Brewer is stepping into a new role. Brewer is the former chief operating officer of Starbucks and CEO of Sam’s Club. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Brewer had also served as the previous CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. She assumed the position in 2021, making history as the only Black woman in the S&P 500 to hold a C-suite title. In addition, she was the third Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. After three years, Brewer stepped down from the role in 2023, AFROTECH™ also reported. Today, she continues to serve on the boards of United Airlines, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Black Economic Alliance. Now, Brewer will step in as the interim president of Spelman College, her alma mater, according to ABC News. Brewer maintained a longstanding connection and involvement with the school, having served 12 years on its board prior to her new role. Brewer’s appointment follows Dr. Helene D. Gayle’s personal leave of...

Oct 23, 2024

St. Louis Native Dr. Marcus Howard Returns Home To Open Missouri's First Black-Owned Pharmacy

A Black-owned pharmacy is opening in St. Louis, MO. According to a news release, GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness has opened in St. Louis to serve 45,000 residents who had been without a pharmacy in their area. St. Louis native Dr. Marcus Howard founded GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness, the first Black-owned pharmacy in Missouri. He had left the St. Louis area to pursue a degree in higher learning, obtaining a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. “I went to North Carolina to pursue my undergrad degree and my Ph.D., and I returned home to really take all the things that I learned out in the community in other places and bring them back home because I know St. Louis is a great place. It’s my home. I just wanted to just bring something back and make a difference,” he said in an interview with Nine PBS. Dr. Howard wanted to become a doctor because he recognized the disparities in the local area, especially in healthcare. He aimed to eliminate those disparities. “Growing up in North City, you...

Jun 28, 2024

Rosalind Brewer, Will Packer, And More Join Atlanta Falcons' Ownership Group

The Atlanta Falcons has welcomed four limited partners. According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, Rosalind Brewer, Will Packer, Dominique Dawes, and Rashaun Williams are now a part of the NFL team’s ownership group. The additions come after the 32 NFL majority owners reached a final vote in Nashville, TN. Ahead of the approval, Brewer, Packer, Dawes, and Williams were vetted by the Atlanta Falcons, the league office, and the NFL’s Finance Committee, the press release discloses. For Brewer, in addition to being a limited partner, she will continue to serve as an associate board director for Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank’s Family Foundation. “ As I embrace the opportunity to become a limited partner of the Atlanta Falcons, I’m reminded that true leadership extends beyond boardrooms and onto the fields where dreams are forged and communities united,” Brewer shared in a statement. “ My journey has always been about people – their stories, aspirations and the communities we...

May 22, 2024

TikTok Intends To Challenge Bill In Court That Would Lead To It Being Banned In The US

TikTok’s future in the United States gets closer to being decided. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, a 12-page bill had been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2024 to eradicate the platform’s use in the United States. The bill was created to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications,” per CBS News. If passed, ByteDance, the owner of the China-based platform, would have 180 days to sell TikTok for the app to remain accessible to U.S. users. If the company chooses to maintain ownership, the app and all other applications associated with ByteDance would be banned in the United States. At the time, per AP News, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared in a statement, “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you. We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.” On Saturday, April 20, 2024, a modified version of...

Apr 22, 2024

Vivian Y. Hunt Has Been Tapped To Lead Harvard University's Board Of Overseers As It Searches For A New President

Harvard University is searching for a new president and has tapped a Black woman business executive to assist with the “challenges and opportunities facing the University.” According to The Harvard Crimson, Vivian Y. Hunt was appointed as the new president of the board of overseers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Harvard Crimson (@theharvardcrimson) For the 2024-2025 school year, the Harvard Business School alumna, who has been described as “a voice for diversity and impact at scale” by the school, is set to lead the board. The outlet details that three overseers serve on Harvard University’s presidential search committee and the president of the overseers has been one of the three in the institution’s past five searches. Tyler Jacks, the founding director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and fellow Harvard University alumna, is joining Hunt as board vice chair. Jacks was a member of the presidential search committee that selected former...

Apr 22, 2024

Jaqui Rice Gold Says Having Her Dad Jerry Rice As A G.O.A.T. Fuel Co-Founder Opened Doors, But Raising $12M And Inking An NBA Partnership Was Rooted In 'Great Business'

Jerry Rice’s daughter Jaqui Rice Gold and the NFL Hall of Famer share more than being immediate family. The father-daughter duo is behind energy drink company G.O.A.T. Fuel, a venture founded alongside Jaqui’s husband, Trevion Gold, who serves as chief brand officer. The company distinguishes itself by incorporating adaptogens into beverages, such as the fusion of cordyceps mushrooms. According to WebMD, cordyceps helps improve energy, strength, immunity, and kidney function. The fungi’s health benefits initially attracted Jaqui to enter the beverage industry while working on a beauty tech startup in 2018. At the time, caffeine became a go-to drink for Jaqui and Trevion. However, its consumption led them to experience the adverse effects of some drinks, like feeling the “jitters” and eventually a decline in energy. “We just started talking as a family. I called my dad because he was a beverage investor. He had invested in CytoSport and Muscle Milk decades ago. We were telling him...

Apr 8, 2024

Former Walgreens CEO Rosalind 'Roz' Brewer Joins Black Economic Alliance's Board Of Directors

Rosalind “Roz” Brewer has joined a coalition of leaders to advocate for financial prosperity in Black communities. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Brewer — an alumnus of Spelman College — formerly helmed as Walgreens Boots Alliance chief executive officer (CEO). This company, headquartered in Illinois, owns the retail pharmacy chain Walgreens in the U.S. and the U.K. However, Brewer exited her position in August 2023. She was the only Black woman to hold the C-suite title in the S&P 500 at the time, per Bloomberg. The former Walgreens CEO was also the third Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, notes Forbes. Before Walgreens, Brewer served in leadership roles for retail giant Walmart and then transitioned to its Sam’s Club division as president and CEO to advance digital technology and improve shoppers’ experience, a news release mentions. She also took on the role of the chief operating officer (COO) of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2017 to 2021. Her contributions included...

Apr 5, 2024

After Nearly 3 Years, Rosalind Brewer Steps Down As CEO Of Walgreens

A fairly quick change has been made over at Walgreens. On Aug. 31, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s CEO Rosalind Brewer stepped down from the company, according to Bloomberg. The outlet also notes that she was the only Black woman serving as a CEO in the S&P 500.

Sep 1, 2023

Starbucks Exec Roz Brewer to Join Walgreens As Its New CEO

Walgreens joins various companies in its latest effort to diversify their board. Starbucks Corp. operating chief Roz Brewer is set to be named Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s new chief executive officer, according to inside sources, reports The Wall Street Journal. Once set in stone, the new appointment will reportedly make Brewer the only Black female leading a Fortune 500 company today. Brewer will replace CEO Stefano Pessina who mentioned that he would step down as the drugstore company’s CEO once they found a new leader. As regulators, investors and activists continue to push for more diversity in Corporate America, Brewer’s appointment comes just on the heels of Nasdaq’s prediction that proposed changes will continue to push for greater gender and racial diversity on the boards of publicly-traded companies listed on its exchange. Upon joining Starbucks’ board in 2017, Brewer became its chief operating officer later that year after she served as CEO of Sam’s Club, owned by...

Jan 27, 2021

Meet Some of the Richest Black Women in the World

Who runs the world? Black women run the world. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we want to highlight Black women who have been able to break through glass ceilings and find success in financial mobility. These eight women created a seat at their own table becoming independent businesswomen. Get to know some of the richest Black women in the world below: Oprah Winfrey ($2.7 billion) Steve Jennings/Getty Images Media mogul and billionaire Oprah Winfrey built her wealth from the ground up. Her courageous strides in the television industry helped her create a successful media empire that has jumpstarted the careers of hundreds of actors, directors, and producers, according to Forbes . She earned the title as the first Black female billionaire and still reigns supreme as one of the richest Black women in the world. Folorunsho Alakija ($1.7 billion) Twitter / @ROSGMI Meet billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist, Folorunsho Alakija , overseer of several business ventures such...

Mar 8, 2020

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