Quita Highsmith is an Advisor, Changemaker and Inclusion Expert.

She is currently the Vice President, Population Health Center of Excellence and on the US Leadership Team at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.

Quita brings brand marketing, sales, business development and a global leadership perspective. She was previously the first Genentech Chief Diversity Officer and held leadership roles in Commercial and Government Affairs of several companies (Genentech, Sanofi, Aventis) where she impacted and improved revenues. In 2017, she recognized the need to diversify clinical research, which led her to co-found Advancing Inclusive Research™, an initiative to embrace inclusive access.

Quita is routinely requested to address members of Congress, speak at national and international forums, and give media interviews with both large and small outlets, such as WSJ, STAT, The Atlantic, and Essence Magazine. She has co-authored numerous publications regarding health disparities in peer reviewed journals. In 2024, she was selected by Endpoints News as a Top Woman in BioPharma Research and in 2023 named to the Power 100 List of most influential leaders in the Bay Area.

Quita is an advisor to Artis Ventures and is committed to community service by working with non-profit boards such as, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Northwest Kidney Centers, Delta San Francisco-Peninsula Scholarship Foundation and The Genentech Patient Foundation.

She received a Master of Business Administration Degree from Cornell University and her undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky.