In March 2021, Rosalind “Roz” Brewer became Chief Executive Officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, her appointment was historic. She became one of only a handful of Black women to ever lead a Fortune 500 company, joining a remarkably small group of executives who had reached the highest levels of corporate leadership, but Brewer did not inherit a thriving business, she inherited a crisis.
The pandemic-driven revenue surge that had temporarily benefited Walgreens was fading. The company’s traditional retail pharmacy model faced growing pressure from Amazon, CVS, and changing consumer behavior; investors demanded transformation. The board embraced an ambitious strategy centered on expanding primary care clinics, a costly shift that required significant capital while the company was already under immense financial pressure.
The structural challenges Brewer faced were not new, they had been developing for years. Yet, as often happens in corporate America, the leader who inherited the crisis became the face of it.
The Glass Cliff
Leadership scholars Michelle K. Ryan and S. Alexander Haslam introduced the concept of the glass cliff to describe a recurring management pattern. Women, and particularly black women, are often selected to lead organizations during periods of instability, declining performance, or public crisis.
Unlike the “glass ceiling,” which focuses on barriers to advancement, the glass cliff examines what happens after those barriers are crossed. The opportunity arrives, so does the risk. These leaders inherit organizations with fewer resources, greater expectations, and significantly less margin for error than their predecessors.
When structural problems continue producing predictable outcomes, the leader becomes the story, not the years of decisions that created the crisis. Not the board that approved the strategy, and definitely not the institution itself, the leader.
Carrying a Burden She Didn’t Create
Brewer spent less than three years executing the transformation strategy the board had endorsed. The company’s stock continued to struggle. The pressures facing Walgreens intensified. In August 2023, Brewer stepped down as CEO. The board quickly appointed a white male executive as her successor.
The sequence is familiar: An institution enters crisis. a Black woman is asked to lead it. The structural problems remain. The leader leaves. The institution continues. This is precisely the pattern the glass cliff seeks to explain.
The Story Didn’t End at Walgreens
Corporate America often treats executive departures as conclusions. For Roz Brewer, Walgreens became only one chapter. In October 2024, Brewer returned to her alma mater, Spelman College, as Interim President.
The appointment carried profound symbolism. She wasn’t arriving as an outsider brought in to solve a crisis, she was returning home to an institution that had helped shape her own leadership journey.
Her influence also expanded beyond higher education. Brewer became a limited partner and co-owner of the Atlanta Falcons, making her one of only a small number of Black women with an ownership stake in an NFL franchise.
She continues serving on the board of United Airlines Holdings, and on the board of the KIPP Foundation, helping strengthen educational opportunities for thousands of students across the country. She also serves on the U.S. President’s Export Council, where she advised the White House on international trade and American competitiveness. In 2026, Howard University awarded her an honorary degree. That same year, Black Enterprise presented Brewer with its Legacy Award at the Women of Power Summit.
Her influence did not diminish, it expanded.
Beyond the Cliff
This week’s reporting at IMPACT Magazine has examined the disproportionate economic impact Black women continue experiencing across corporate America. We’ve explored the documented phenomenon of the glass cliff. We’ve revisited Zora Neale Hurston’s observation that Black women have long been expected to carry burdens they did not create.
Roz Brewer’s story demonstrates another possibility. The board believed they were ending her story, they were ending a chapter. Brewer responded the way builders often do, she expanded the story. Today, Walgreens is only one line on her résumé; Spelman College, the Atlanta Falcons, United Airlines, Howard University, the KIPP Foundation.
Legacy.
This is what unmuted leadership looks like. Not merely surviving the glass cliff. Building a life so expansive that the cliff no longer defines the landscape.
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This article is part of IMPACT Magazine’s Unmuted Leadership series, profiling builders whose influence extends far beyond the positions they hold.
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