Quita Highsmith

Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
GENENTECH

Throughout her career, Quita Highsmith has built a reputation as a risk-taker, a change-maker, and a leader who advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion in every space she is in. She joined Genentech in 2010, and following leadership roles in sales and advocacy relations, she’s now responsible for the creation and implementation of holistic enterprise-wide DE&I strategies at the forefront of the biotech industry. Highsmith believes that DE&I is a key driver in all aspects of innovation and it is time to be bold, stop tiptoeing around race and inequities at work, and come together to build an “inclusion movement.”

One example of Quita’s exceptional leadership is her work to pioneer and co-lead Advancing Inclusive Research, Genentech’s initiative to reduce disparities in clinical research participation for underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.