Rosalind Brewer assumed the role of CEO at Walgreens on Monday, a position that sets her as the first woman of African descent to lead a Fortune 500 company. Prior to her role, Rosalind served as the chief operating officer at Starbucks.
Rosalind was born in Detroit to parents who worked at General Motors, before going on to Spelman college where she earned her Bachelors in Chemistry. She furthered her education at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago and also Stanford University.
Her career path was a steady but progressive one, afer spending 22 years working at Kimberly-Clark, she moved on in 2006 to become Vice President at Walmart, she grew into the role of the President of the Walmart US East business unit before hshe headed to Starbucks to become its group president and chief operating officer in 2017.
In a statement, Brewer announced her excitement at joining the team and fighting the global pandemic. Read her statement below:
“I am excited to work alongside the entire Walgreens Boots Alliance team as we deliver further innovation and positively impact the lives of millions of people around the world every day,” said Brewer in a statement. “This is especially true today as the company plays a crucial role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.”
She succeeded Stefano Pessina who announced plans to step down come July.