Roz Brewer Talks College Aid, Walgreens and Retail

Roz Brewer discusses her leadership career, Spelman College fundraising and endowment management, and her tenure at Walgreens. She explains Spelman's shift from infrastructure to financial aid and scholarships, and defends Walgreens's pharmacy-focused healthcare strategy. The conversation also covers retail CEO pressures, representation, minority fund managers, and entrepreneurship. - Brewer details Spelman's $500 million Future Ready campaign, with 65% allocated to scholarships and $100 million to teaching and learning. - She says Spelman's endowment is patterned after the Yale model, managed with TIFF and internal leadership, and performs at Yale-like rates. - Brewer names Ariel Capital Management as a minority-owned manager in Spelman's endowment and argues for intentional inclusion. - She defends Walgreens's pharmacy-centric strategy, citing front-of-store margins around 2% versus double-digit pharmacy margins. - Brewer says major companies likely would not make Starbucks-style 2018 diversity training closures today. - She highlights regulatory and supply-chain pressures on retail and consumer-facing CEOs. - She notes her United Airlines board role and minority ownership in the Atlanta Falcons.