As technology and innovation are redefining expectations for corporations to achieve success and growth in an era of disruption, business leaders are embracing change and transforming their organizations for the future. Most recently, unprecedented and unforeseen challenges due to the global pandemic forced companies to rapidly adapt operations, policies and products to survive—and in some cases, thrive.
The CNBC Evolve Global Summit will gather leaders and innovators from around the world for provocative conversations and to share strategies and tactics necessary for adapting, innovating and transforming in this new era of business.
A driving force in the growth of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Laura Alber has served as the company's president and chief executive officer, as well as a member of its Board of Directors since 2010.
During her tenure, Alber has held various leadership roles, executing effective growth strategies, driving ecommerce, strengthening brand recognition, and bolstering profits for the company's portfolio of multi-channel brands. Alber has spearheaded WSI's innovation and expansion into new markets, including the introduction of Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Mark & Graham and Rejuvenation, and most recently, new growth opportunities such as Business-to-Business and Marketplace.
Alber believes that WSI's three key differentiators of in-house design, digital-first channel strategy and values, combined with its relentless focus on the customer, are core to fulfilling the company's vision to own the home.
"Our customers love their homes, and we have a singular focus on helping make them a reflection of who they are," says Alber. This commitment is evident across all WSI brands and Alber believes each brand's unique design aesthetic and price-point differentiation enable the company to address a broad spectrum of customers' personal styles, needs and life stages.
Through her leadership, Alber also fosters a strong values-based culture, which she believes is fundamental to sustained growth and outperformance.
Alber currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Pennsylvania, and as an advisor to Plexo Capital, an institutional investor formed inside GV (formally Google Ventures) that invests into seed stage VCs (led by women and underrepresented minorities) and technology startups.
She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Esi Eggleston Bracey is a transformational beauty leader with decades of executive experience in the CPG and beauty industries where she has created meaningful business impact through purpose driven leadership and initiatives. Esi is President of Unilever’s US business and oversees Unilever’s Personal Care portfolio in North America, which includes iconic brands such as Dove, Degree, and Axe among others.
Esi previously served as EVP and COO of the Beauty and Personal Care business in North America where she leads the $5B Beauty & Personal Care portfolio for Unilever North America which included responsibility for the Hair, Skin Cleansing, Skin Care and Deodorant businesses with iconic brands like Dove, TRESemmé, Suave, Vaseline, Degree, Axe, and Shea Moisture. A believer that business can be a force for good, Esi led efforts to make Unilever the company that makes the most impact on people, communities, and the planet. These efforts include Dove’s founding of the CROWN (Creating and Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Coalition to help foster beauty inclusivity and to eradicate hair discrimination through support of the CROWN Act legislation and champion for Shea Moisture’s work with the New Voices Fund for Women of Color Entrepreneurs. She led these brands and her team powerfully through the COVID pandemic, unlocking unprecedented growth (record H1 performance) and marketplace impact and continues to lead these efforts.
Prior to joining Unilever, Esi spent more than 15 years as a leader in the dynamic global cosmetics industry. She held the position of President of Coty’s Global Consumer Beauty Division and Senior Vice President of Procter & Gamble’s Global Cosmetics leading a portfolio of flagship international make-up brands including COVERGIRL, Max Factor, Sally Hansen, Rimmel London, Bourjois, and more.
An energetic and dynamic leader known for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, she is consistently recognized for her ability to guide organizations through brand-building excellence, agility, and operational discipline in light of competitive pressure and a rapidly evolving marketplace. Earlier in her career she led COVERGIRL’s pioneering work to diversify the face of beauty with disruptive ‘real beauty’ talent such as Queen Latifah, Pink, Ellen, and Janelle Monae. Outside of work, Esi has co-founded CauseWeCare to help keep our communities safe in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Esi has been recognized with numerous awards including Ad Color Legend Award, BE Powerful Women in Business, Ebony Power 100, BET Butterfly Award, Cosmetics Executive Women Achievers Awards, Advertising Age Women to Watch, Women Wear Daily Marketer of the Year, and many more.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Esi graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Sciences. Esi is married to her husband Des for 17 years and has two children (17-year-old daughter, Anura, and 13-year-old son Benoit). She currently lives with her family in New York City.
Amy serves as CEO of FanDuel Group with responsibility for the strategic direction and performance of the company’s core commercial functions across its Sportsbook, Casino, Racing and Daily Fantasy units.
Howe joined FanDuel Group from Live Nation Entertainment where she held several positions of increasing authority culminating as Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ticketmaster, the largest division of Live Nation Entertainment. As COO of Ticketmaster, Howe led the digital transformation and modernization of the company’s ticketing platform doubling its growth in gross ticketing value and growing the mobile app install base by 400%.
Prior to Live Nation Entertainment, Howe enjoyed a distinguished career as a Partner at McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles where she advised many Fortune 500 clients across a wide range of issues, including growth strategy, restructuring/turnaround, organizational transformation and commercial and operational excellence.
Howe earned her Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.
Amy has bi-coastal rooting interests as she is a loyal supporter of UCLA athletics, as well as her hometown Buffalo Bills.
Sandra Douglass Morgan was named President of the Las Vegas Raiders by Owner Mark Davis in July of 2022. She has more than two decades of leadership experience in the sports, gaming, legal and corporate sectors, and has served as a chief regulator, director, attorney, and advisor to integrated resorts, casinos, and telecommunications companies. Having an adept understanding of the community as a native Las Vegan, Sandra is incredibly proud to lead the Silver and Black in her hometown.
Prior to her joining the Raiders, Sandra served as Chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. As the chief regulator for Nevada’s dominant billion-dollar gaming industry, Sandra led the passage and implementation of cashless wagering regulations, ensured that gaming licensees adopted policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment, and led a team of 400 employees in five cities across the state of Nevada. Sandra also served as a Commissioner on the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was the first Black City Attorney in the State of Nevada when she was the chief legal officer for the City of North Las Vegas, where she served from 2008 to 2016.
Sandra was previously with Covington & Burling, LLP and served as an advisor to the State of Nevada’s COVID-19 task force charged with finding solutions for access to personal protection equipment, virtual education options, and expanding testing capabilities so that the state could reopen its doors to tens of millions of visitors from across the globe.
Widely recognized for her commitment to Nevada businesses, education, and support for local causes, she is the recipient of the UNLV Boyd School of Law’s Distinguished Service Alumni Award and the Corporate to Community Connector award from the National Urban League Young Professionals. She was honored to be included in the EBONY 2022 Power 100 List, the most influential “Women in Business and Politics,” receiving an award from the Urban Chamber of Commerce in 2015 along with the Ladies of Distinction Award in 2013 from Olive Crest, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting abused and neglected children. In 2012, Sandra was named Attorney of the Year by the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association which recognized her commitment to serving the local community, especially communities of color.
Sandra has served on a variety of nonprofit boards and is currently the vice chair of Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in 2024, marking the first time Las Vegas, and the state of Nevada will host one of the most-watched annual sporting events in the world. Additionally, Sandra serves on the Board of Directors of Allegiant Travel Company and Fidelity National Financial, Inc., and is on the Board of Trustees for the UNLV Foundation. She is also a member of the State Bar of Nevada and the District of Columbia Bar.
Sandra graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Political Science and holds a Juris Doctor from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She resides in Las Vegas with her husband Don and their two children.
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With $95.4 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 69 branches, including 21 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $94.5 billion in client investment assets.
City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world’s leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries.
For more information about City National, visit the company’s website at cnb.com/business.
*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.
City National Bank Member FDIC. City National Bank is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2023 City National Bank. All Rights Reserved. cnb.com
Comcast Business offers Ethernet, Internet, Wi-Fi, Voice, TV and Managed Enterprise Solutions to help organizations of all sizes transform their business. Powered by an advanced network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is one of the largest contributors to the growth of Comcast Cable. Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and has emerged as a force in the Enterprise market, having been recognized over the last two years by leading industry associations as one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services. Visit business.comcast.com/.
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is a global financial services leader and premier active global investment manager with approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2023, with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees help make lives better and create financial opportunity for more people by expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security. Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise, and innovation for nearly 150 years.
For more information, please visit news.prudential.com.
Founded in 1990, World Wide Technology (WWT), a global technology solutions provider with $17 billion in annual revenue, combines the power of strategy, execution and partnership to accelerate digital transformational outcomes for large public and private organizations around the world. Through its Advanced Technology Center, a collaborative ecosystem of the world’s most advanced hardware and software solutions, WWT helps customers and partners conceptualize, test and validate innovative technology solutions for the best business outcomes and then deploys them at scale through its global warehousing, distribution and integration capabilities.
With nearly 9,000 employees and more than 55 locations around the world, WWT’s culture, built on a set of core values and established leadership philosophies, has been recognized 12 years in a row by Fortune and Great Place to Work® for its unique blend of determination, innovation and leadership focus on diversity and inclusion. With this culture at its foundation, WWT bridges the gap between business and technology to make a new world happen for its customers, partners and communities. For more info, visit Why WWT – Overview – WWT and Artificial Intelligence and Data – Overview – WWT. Connect with WWT: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
