Rockhurst University Leadership Series To Bring Former HP CEO, Presidential Candidate Carly Fiorina To Kansas City

Carly Fiorina, the onetime CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., former U.S. presidential candidate, philanthropist and bestselling author, will be the guest of the 2020 Rockhurst University Leadership Series, speaking on “Leading for Good, Empowering People and Driving Innovation in the World Today” at a luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 5, 2020, at the Marriott Muehlebach Tower in Kansas City, Missouri.

Fiorina is recognized worldwide as a leader dedicated to pursuing growth and inspiring those around her to realize their own potential.

Starting her career as a secretary for a real estate business, Fiorina worked her way up to become the first woman to ever lead a Fortune 50 company when in 1999 she was recruited to lead HP in the midst of a historic recession in the technology industry. Under Fiorina’s leadership, revenue grew, innovation tripled, growth quadrupled, and HP became the 11th largest company in the U.S.



Since leaving HP in the 2005, Fiorina has worked toward making the world a better place. She was named chairwoman of Good360, the world’s largest philanthropy organization, and chairwoman of Opportunity International, a Christian-based organization that lifts millions out of poverty around the globe through micro-finance. She also founded the One Woman Initiative alongside the 2015 guest of the Rockhurst University Leadership Series, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The organization was founded to engage and empower women in Pakistan, Egypt, India and the Philippines through increased access to economic opportunity.

“A leader isn’t someone who walks into a room thinking they know everything,” she said. “Through my work with these organizations, I’ve met incredible people, and learned a lot by hearing their stories. It’s amazing to see people take charge in their own communities to solve the problems that they face.”

In 2015, Fiorina launched a campaign for president. Running as a political outsider, she spoke about empowering and engaging citizens to take back government from a political ruling class that has failed to deliver results.

Fiorina is the founder and chairman of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, and of Unlocking Potential, a nonprofit organization that supports local leaders who are solving problems in their communities and places of work, equipping them with the behaviors, characteristics, disciplines and tools to increase their leadership and problem-solving capacity.

Furthering the commitment to the ideas that power change, Fiorina launched a podcast called By Example, featuring conversations with inspirational figures from every walk of life. She is the author of two bestselling books — Tough Choices and Rising to the Challenge — and recently released her third, Find Your Way: Unleash Your Power and Highest Potential.

Also during the luncheon, the University will honor alumni with the Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics, named for two influential leaders in Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management ­—­­ the late Tom Lyon, Ph.D., and the Rev. Nick Rashford, S.J. — and established in 2014. The 2020 event will recognize 50 years of women at Rockhurst University. This milestone will honor and celebrate the contributions, achievements and sustaining impact that women have had and continue to have on the University.

For more information, including individual ticket sales, visit rockhurst.edu/leadershipseries.