Quita Highsmith

Quita Highsmith is vice president and chief diversity officer at Genentech, where she is responsible for enterprise-wide strategic initiatives that drive business impact by investing in commercial efforts, stakeholder engagement, research innovation, and community relations. Previously, she held leadership roles in commercial and government affairs at Genentech, Sanofi, and Aventis and co-founded Advancing Inclusive Research, an initiative focused on diversifying clinical research. Highsmith has also co-authored peer-reviewed journals articles addressing health disparities. In 2021, she was named the Inspire Award Winner by San Francisco Business Times, honored as the inaugural Visionary Award winner by Women of Color in Pharma, named among PharmaVOICE Magazine’s Top 100 Most Inspiring, and selected as one of Top 15 Champions by Diversity Global Magazine.