by Eva Glassman | Mar 19, 2026 | Blog, Featured
Nicole Barnett is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California, providing comprehensive sexual reproductive healthcare services at 17 centers across 20 counties. With an extensive background in corporate healthcare, including 28 years at Kaiser Permanente, Nicole describes her current role in nonprofit leadership as her most challenging one yet. Even still, her drive to deliver health equity to Northern California stems from her passion for serving others and supporting people in optimizing their health. Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time with her husband and two children and recently celebrated the birth of her grandson. Nicole has been a Member of C200 since 2026.
Eva Glassman: Tell me about your role as President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California. What do you love about your job, and what are the more challenging aspects?
Nicole Barnett: I was named the President and CEO for Planned Parenthood Northern California on July 1st of 2025. Before that, I was the Chief Operating Officer for about a year and a half. I got to know the organization well from a boots-on-the-ground perspective, understanding the care that we deliver at all 17 health centers across 20 counties in Northern California. We also have a robust telehealth service, which is important for individuals who can’t travel or have other barriers to receiving care in person.
At this job, I’m most proud and excited that I get to stand at the intersection of health equity, social justice, and reproductive justice. This is an exciting time to be involved in those areas because of all the social shifts and polarization that we are seeing around different belief systems and ideologies. The question of what it means to be free and exercise your own bodily autonomy is at the center of this moment.
After spending almost 30 years in healthcare before coming to this role, this is the culmination of what I’ve always believed in, what my sense of purpose is, and the way I want to serve in healthcare and life.
After 28 years at Kaiser Permanente, from bedside nurse all the way up to the C-Suite, this role is a perfect fit for me, although it’s also the hardest job I’ve ever had. While all my jobs had their challenges along the way, this one is so difficult because of the resistance to what we’re trying to preserve, protect, and achieve. Our executive offices are in the same building as one of our larger health centers; every day, just like our patients, I also have to walk through the gauntlet of protesters who are screaming, yelling, displaying placards with hateful and shaming language—all kinds of things to intimidate individuals coming in and out of the building. People even yell at me to get a job somewhere else. I’m so appreciative of my 400+-person staff, all of whom wake up every day knowing what they have to face and still stand in the gap for others to protect their access to care.
Another challenging aspect of the job is navigating and clarifying the misunderstandings and misrepresentations about Planned Parenthood in general. Abortion is one of the many healthcare services that we provide, and is actually not the largest of our services lines. We provide cancer screening and follow up care, perimenopause and menopause consultation and care, behavioral health visits, connections to other community care providers, and we are proud to be a trusted provider of LGBTQ+ care as well. We even do vasectomies, a fact that always surprises people when I share it!
Despite all the challenges, I couldn’t be prouder to be here. We know that we have to stay engaged because if we don’t do this work, who will? We have allies across the healthcare industry, in our communities amongst our local, state and federal representatives. So we continue to fight and advance health equity because that’s what our patients deserve.
EG: With your extensive background in healthcare, how has your career journey prepared you for your current role? What takeaways from your earlier experience have helped you navigate the challenges of this role?
NB: At the end of the day, I remind myself that this is healthcare. This is about the relationship between the patient, the provider, and the surrounding team, who also give support. I started my career at the bedside as a registered nurse, so I understand that relationship well. I went into nursing because I wanted to be close to patient care and to support people in optimizing their health.
When I started my healthcare journey, I worked in inpatient nursing in hospital settings, which prepared me well when I moved to outpatient settings and clinics, as well as call centers as an advice nurse. I also worked in research and HIV testing and counseling, and served for many years as a Sexual Assault Response Nurse (thanks to training I received at Planned Parenthood Fairfield, CA). I had so many patient-facing experiences that fueled my empathy and commitment to a strong, culturally relevant, respectful, and trusting relationship between the patient and clinician.
Health is impacted by social determinants—not just the relationship with your doctor, but also whether you have safe housing, literacy, education, and transportation access. When I moved into leadership roles, this understanding helped me evaluate how to recognize and remove systemic barriers to optimize the experience from a patient perspective.
In my leadership roles, I did a lot of work in community outreach, healthcare disparities and reduction; health equity work; and strengthening partnerships with community groups that built and strengthened the safety net folks need to get the healthcare they require.
During the pandemic, I did a lot of teaching through local nursing programs. During that time, a lot of students couldn’t access traditional training settings in the hospitals; there was a huge need for instructors to help students graduate on time, so they could safely move into the system and become part of the workforce that was fighting the pandemic. I spent a lot of nights and weekends during the pandemic teaching because that was important to me and gave me a tangible way to contribute during the deadliest global health crisis of our lifetime.
All those experiences have helped to contribute to who I am today and how I serve in my role at Planned Parenthood.
EG: In terms of your own career advancement, what were some of the biggest factors that led to your success and ability to advance into leadership roles?
NB: I’ve always had a curiosity and openness to learning. At some points in my career, I could have been satisfied with where I was because it was safe, familiar, and paid the bills. But when you have that sense of curiosity, and you’re open to learning, you get beyond the fear of the unknown, and all kinds of possibilities open up. It led me to accept roles, experiences, and even interim opportunities that helped me build a stronger career foundation.
This mentality also introduced me to potential mentors, whether they were in a peer or formal capacity. When I took their advice, I began to grow into different roles and meet potential sponsors. Over time, my mentors and sponsors pulled me into opportunities I had never considered—until I was there and could see what was possible. The people around you often will see more in you than you see for yourself.
I’m not the kind of person who knew 20 years ago that I would be a CEO; that was probably the farthest thing from my mind! All I knew was that I enjoyed learning, growing, and doing meaningful work.
EG: Tell me more about your journey to C200. How did you discover the organization? What made you join? What are you most looking forward to as a new Member?
NB: Sometimes the best connections come through trusted friends and advisors and that is how I learned about C200. When I was preparing for my transition to the COO role at Planned Parenthood, I reached out to a colleague that had made a similar transition from a large healthcare organization to a non-profit. She is also a registered nurse, so I thought she was the perfect person to talk to. I reached out to her on LinkedIn, and she wrote right back to me. Just like that, we got on the phone and reconnected.
Over the course of several phone calls, I learned so much about her career experience, and she eventually said, “Oh, I want you to think about joining this organization—it’s called C200.” I looked at the website and heard her excitement and thought, “Wow, this would be a wonderful group for me to be a part of.”
I’m excited to be here because this is going to inform the next stage of my own growth and development. No matter how far you get, you’re never done learning and growing. There’s no top of the mountain, right? With the very hard role that I have as a CEO in reproductive justice, I’m hoping C200 will be a welcoming, safe space where I can find other women leaders whom I can open up to and receive encouragement and direction from as I continue to navigate the toughest job I’ve ever had.
EG: You’ve already spoken about how important your mentors and sponsors have been in your career journey. What has your experience been like, specifically finding other professional women throughout your career to connect with and aspire to?
NB: I worked for Kaiser for many years, which has a wealth of business resource groups for all kinds of demographics. I attended many summits for one of their resource groups, Women in Leadership, where I connected with so many people.
Fortunately for me, I had several women leaders who were in my circle of influence within my job who helped me advance within Kaiser. It was through them that I was invited to a group called Women Healthcare Executives of the San Francisco East Bay. I became incredibly active within that group, joining committees and the Board of Directors, which connected me with many more women who were in clinical and non-clinical roles such as doctors, nurses, and healthcare leaders. Last year, April 2025, I had the honor of being named their Woman of the Year, something I never would have thought I would earn.
EG: What does being a woman in leadership mean to you? How does it impact the way you work and lead?
NB: It is a powerful representation of what’s possible. When I was early in my career, people talked a lot about breaking the glass ceiling. For me, I’ve always worked as if there’s no glass ceiling. That’s what being a powerful woman in leadership is about. Don’t worry about the glass ceiling. Just continue. We find new ways to move forward each and every day. I found my way by looking for opportunities to serve, to learn, and to grow. Advancement comes organically when you focus on preparation.
I’ve been so thankful for the opportunities that have come my way, even when the road wasn’t as smooth as it appeared for other people. I didn’t accept that things are just the way they are, I found ways to stay encouraged through service. That’s what women bring to any situation. We find a way around it; it’s not going to stop us because we have our eyes on a larger goal. That’s the powerful thing about being a woman in leadership; no matter what the barrier is, we can imagine a way around it. We can imagine a world without barriers where everyone has an opportunity to shine.
Another thing that we do uniquely is that we lift as we climb. We’re the kind of leaders who don’t want to go alone. We might be the first ones somewhere, but we’re going to look around and figure out how to bring other people with us who don’t necessarily represent the traditional leadership or boardroom makeup. We’re going to bring those other voices with us.
EG: Outside of work, what do you like to do for fun? How do you like to spend your time?
NB: I love spending time with my family. My husband and I have been married for 37 years, and we have two children. Our son, Daniel, just got married last year, and I had the honor of marrying them at the San Francisco City Hall. It was so wonderful—they in the 5th grade and now they are married! And this past November, they had a baby, so I’m so excited to have a three-month-old grandson in the family.
Our daughter Victoria, who’s two years younger, never ceases to amaze us with her kindness, determination and brilliance. She has a degree in neuroscience, and this May, she will graduate from Johns Hopkins with a master’s degree in biotechnology and stem cell research. She also works as a clinical research associate with breast cancer patients. It is wonderful to see the satisfaction that she gets from her work as she helps patients navigate their clinical trial experience.
EG: You touched on being open and curious as important to your career progression. What other kind of advice would you give to aspiring women business leaders to advance their careers?
NB: Network, network, network. Sometimes people say they want to rise in their career, but when I ask about their career, they express dissatisfaction with their current path. When you network, you can learn and get clear on what you really want to do, because sometimes what you’re currently doing isn’t really what you want to do. Joining key professional associations with great local programming is a game-changer in terms of meeting and learning from others in your field.
For me, being of service in my job is more important than the job itself. That’s what fills my cup and makes me happy. For instance, at one point I had a great job as a middle manager in a clinic, but on the weekends, that job allowed me to go out and volunteer at health fairs in the park, where I could take blood pressures and provide health education. That filled my cup so I could go back to the day to day responsibility of managing.
The closer I got to jobs that put me in the line of serving others and creating structures that serve patients better, the more it aligned with my sense of purpose. Ultimately, I love to make things easier and better for people, and that has taken the form of helping people get to their optimal level of health. It wasn’t ever about the career or the job—it was about my purpose and the job as a vehicle to get me closer to that purpose. We all have to work at the end of the day, but does that work help you to get closer to your purpose? Asking yourself that question and working to answer it over time will help you find what you’re meant to do.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Mar 10, 2026 | Blog, Featured
By Rani Yadav-Ranjan | GrayCloudAI, Inc. | Member since 2016
Many companies adopted AI with a straightforward question in mind: Does the system work?
Success was measured through familiar metrics like accuracy, efficiency, and cost savings. But as AI systems begin influencing hiring decisions, pricing, safety monitoring, and customer interactions, a different question is emerging in leadership discussions: If the system makes a decision, who is responsible for it?
In our new article for Forbes, C200 Member Rani Yadav-Ranjan examines the risks organizations are beginning to encounter as AI moves from a productivity tool to something that influences real operational decisions.
The article explores how this shift raises new questions about governance, oversight, and accountability, particularly for leaders operating in regulated industries. It also outlines several questions organizations should consider before relying on AI in decisions that affect people.
Read the full article here.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Feb 26, 2026 | Blog, Featured
After great consideration, Myla Skinner has decided to step down from her role as CEO of C200. Her last day with the organization will be February 27, 2026.
During her tenure, Myla led C200 through a complex and transformational era of the organization’s history with deep care for our Members and commitment to advancing all women in business.
“Serving as CEO of C200 for the past two and a half years has been a true privilege,” she says. ” Leading this organization—one rooted in legacy, excellence, and an unwavering commitment to advancing all women in business—has been a meaningful chapter of my professional life. ”
“We are grateful for Myla’s dedication, her integrity, and the thoughtfulness with which she has approached this transition,” says Tara Marling Abraham, C200’s Board Chair. “The Board fully respects Myla’s decision and is aligned in our focus on continuity, stability, and the future strength of C200. We are actively engaged in ensuring a smooth transition and are confident in the foundation of this organization—its mission, its Members, and its enduring impact.”
Sharon Black has joined C200 as Interim Chief Executive Officer to support the transition and lead the organization through its next phase of growth, financial stability, and Member engagement. Sharon has been a C200 Member since 2018 and brings more than three decades of executive leadership experience spanning corporate operations, entrepreneurship, and nonprofit service, with a longstanding commitment to advancing women in leadership.
“I’ve been fortunate to work alongside extraordinary leaders throughout my career,” she says. “I am honored to step into this role and excited to partner with C200’s exceptional membership to strengthen the organization, expand opportunity for women leaders, and build a sustainable platform for future generations.”
C200 looks forward to working with Sharon Black and the Board as we continue engaging our membership, partnerships, and mission to advance women in business.
by Eva Glassman | Feb 24, 2026 | Blog, Featured
By Lin Coughlin | Great Circle Associates | Member since 2002
Senior leaders rarely have a problem developing a strategy. Most have clear priorities, capable teams, and strong plans; execution is where things break down.
C200 Member Lin Coughlin explores this in our new Forbes article, showing how enterprise performance often depends on something less visible: whether leaders can align work across functions.
Strategy stalls when marketing, finance, operations, and sales optimize their own goals but no one integrates the whole.
Her article outlines the leadership disciplines that make cross-functional teams effective. Constructive disagreement improves decisions. Visible accountability sustains momentum. And in matrixed organizations, influence frequently matters more than authority.
For executives navigating hybrid teams, AI-accelerated workflows, and constant change, the ability to coordinate action across the enterprise has become a leadership requirement.
Read the full article here.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Feb 11, 2026 | Blog, Featured
Deeannah Seymour is the CEO and Co-Founder of pH-D Feminine Health, a brand focused on providing natural solutions for feminine hygiene and wellness. Although Deeannah left her twenty-year corporate career in pharmaceuticals to start pH-D, it was her experience and inside knowledge that proved pivotal in growing the business and landing products on the shelves of major retailers. Outside of work, Deeannah enjoys traveling with her two adult children, playing golf, and starting her day off right with a workout. Deeannah has been a Member of C200 since 2024.
Eva Glassman: How and why did you decide to start pH-D Feminine Health and develop your products in the first place?
Deeannah Seymour: I spent twenty years in the pharmaceutical industry and truly loved my corporate career. As a single mom raising two children, it gave me security, stability, and the opportunity to provide for my family in a meaningful way.
During those years I was consistently prescribed antibiotics for chronic sinus infections and over time, they disrupted my body’s natural balance. I began experiencing my own feminine health challenges, which led me to a personal search for a more holistic, evidence-backed solution.
Through that research, I discovered there was robust clinical data supporting the use of boric acid vaginal suppositories. I also spoke with numerous OB-GYNs who believed strongly in the ingredient. When I tried it myself, it was truly life changing. The problem was that it was incredibly expensive and only available through compounding pharmacies, making it inaccessible for most women.
That’s when I felt a moral obligation to do something bigger.
As fate would have it, my daughter’s ice hockey coach happened to own a manufacturing facility that produced holistic products. I brought him my idea, and in 2014, we launched pH-D Feminine Health on Amazon. Within six months, we became the #1 bestseller in our category. The sales velocity told one part of the story but the messages from women whose lives were changing told the rest.
Originally, I intended pH-D to be a side hustle to help pay for my kids’ college. But the demand quickly outgrew that vision. In 2017, I made the leap and left my corporate career to run the company full-time.
Our next goal was retail. While Amazon had been an incredible launchpad, we knew that when women experience a vaginal health issue, they need solutions immediately, not two or three days later. I attended my first ECRM event to connect directly with buyers and, through that process, landed Target and CVS chain wide. Our success with those retailers led to Walmart calling us to bring our product in.
We grew from 6,000 retail doors at the end of 2019 to over 55,000 today, now available in virtually every major retailer across the U.S. and Canada.
We are proudly self-funded and deeply committed to research and education. Even more meaningful to me: we are one of only two certified women-owned brands in our entire retail category. Nearly every other brand in the space is neither certified nor controlled by women.
Necessity truly is the mother of invention. pH-D was born from my own unmet need. Our original boric acid suppositories were just beginning. Today, we offer a full portfolio of feminine health solutions including menopause support, supplements, washes, wipes, and more. Our mission is to be the trusted brand women turn to at every stage of their lives.
EG: When looking back at your journey in scaling your business, what are the important moves or moments that you believe were vital in getting you to where you are now? How did you set yourself and your brand up for success?
DS: I’m not your typical business owner. I never took a business class, and when I started, I knew nothing about retail. What I did know came from my twenty-year career in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry: the power of professional recommendation and the outsized influence of healthcare providers.
After leaving Abbott Labs, I began attending nearly every major women’s health conference in the country. I’d set up a tiny booth with a simple pop-up banner…and yes, I even used my old Abbott Labs tablecloth turned inside out. They never asked for it back when I left!
I’ll never forget that very first conference. There I was, this little startup founder with a modest booth, surrounded by massive Big Pharma displays with massive budgets. Their reps stood there scrolling on their phones, looking bored. Meanwhile, I was twenty people deep at my booth, literally having to raise my voice just to talk over the crowd. Executives from the large companies would wander over, peer around the corner, and ask, “What is going on over here?”
Most of the providers already knew about boric acid suppositories. What delighted them was that this solution was finally available commercially. For decades, it had only existed in compounding pharmacies. Providers were genuinely excited to at last have easy access to something they already trusted for their patients.
That moment taught me something powerful: the power of professional recommendation became the immediate secret to our success. If a healthcare provider recommends something, you’re over 60% more likely to act. In many ways, they were our original influencers, long before influencer marketing became a thing.
When I left my corporate job to pursue pH-D full time, I heard plenty of skepticism. “There’s no IP protection for boric acid,” people warned me. “How will you defend this?” My answer was simple: that was never my motivation. I felt a moral responsibility to bring this product to women. The legacy brands in the category weren’t touching it because they couldn’t patent it. If I didn’t do it, no one was going to.
There’s a saying in retail: “There’s no replacement for first to market.” And it’s true. Even though many competitors have entered our space since, pH-D remains the clear category leader and best-seller. And even more meaningful, we are now the number one, doctor-recommended brand. That endorsement became a massive inflection point in our growth.
Because of what we built, boric acid suppositories have now become part of the standard of care in the medical community, not just because they work, but because they’re finally accessible. We played a pivotal role in making that possible.
We remain deeply connected to the medical community. We are constantly asking providers where gaps exist in their practice and where they wish better solutions existed. Through those relationships, we collaborate closely. Additionally, maintain a scientific advisory board made up of leading women’s health practitioners who guide us on unmet needs in the market.
Our company truly is by women, for women built from personal experience, medical science, and a relentless commitment to improving women’s lives.
EG: Throughout your career journey—whether it’s during your corporate years or while getting your business off the ground—what was your experience like finding other women to connect with professionally?
DS: For the first two or three years of running my business, I was grinding away with my head down, alone in my little office. I wasn’t yet plugged into the business community, and even though I had a wonderful business partner, entrepreneurship can still feel incredibly isolating. It was a lonely season.
That began to change when I attended a local WBENC conference and met a woman who introduced me to EO, Entrepreneurs’ Organization. She became not only a pivotal influence in my entrepreneurial journey, but a dear friend.
Entrepreneurs are a unique bunch and it seems that no matter the industry, we all wrestle with the same challenges: hiring, scaling, culture, doubt, risk, resilience. When I joined EO, I finally felt like I had found my tribe, a group of people who understood the things I couldn’t talk about with friends who weren’t entrepreneurs. EO became an invaluable source of support, perspective, and connection as my business grew.
Later, I had the honor of being named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year. That community has been equally transformative. It’s full of extraordinary, inspiring founders, women and men alike, who push boundaries in their own industries. We even have a WhatsApp group where we trade advice, ask hard questions, and share the real stories behind the headlines. It’s been a constant reminder that none of us succeed alone.
EG: Tell me more about your journey to C200! What first drew you to the organization?
DS: I had always heard so many wonderful things about C200 and knew several Nashville-based Members, but it wasn’t until C200 Member Nancy Peterson-Hearn reached out to me that I considered joining. She saw my name on the list of top women-owned businesses in the city and invited me to lunch, where she told me all about C200. I think the world of Nancy and decided to join after our conversation.
Having a community has been such a gift for me as an entrepreneur, it’s also why I chose to join C200. Recently, I went to a FunRaiser hosted by C200 Member Maryann Bruce and met some fabulous women. Oh, my goodness, I left so inspired! It was such a fabulous time, to have the chance to connect, share stories, and learn. I need more powerful women business owners and executives in my life, so I’m grateful to have joined C200.
EG: What does being a “woman in business” mean to you? How does it impact the way you work and lead?
DS: To me, being a woman in business means leading with both strength and intuition. One of our greatest superpowers as women is our ability to sense the ripple effects of decisions and how something will land with people, what it will mean for a team, and where the real opportunities or risks lie beneath the surface. When we trust that intuition, truly remarkable things can happen.
My business partner is a man, and he’s wonderful. He brings decades more operational experience and what I call “entrepreneurial scar tissue,” and I bring a different lens, one that is often more attuned to people, impact, and long-term cultural health. Those perspectives balance each other beautifully, and the combination has been a tremendous advantage for our company.
While empathy is a human quality, I think women leaders are unapologetically bringing it into business in a way that is reshaping workplaces for the better. When people feel seen, supported, and valued, everything improves, engagement, retention, collaboration, and ultimately performance.
We’ve seen the statistic showing that women-owned companies tend to outperform those led solely by men. It’s consistent with what I’ve seen firsthand. At a recent FunRaiser, I spoke with several C200 members whose companies thrived under female leadership. Their success isn’t anecdotal; it’s part of a larger pattern that reflects what happens when women lead with clarity, empathy, resilience, and conviction.
Being a woman in business has shaped not only how I lead, but why I lead. It reminds me every day that when women can build, innovate, and influence, we don’t just change companies, we change lives.
EG: When you’re not working and find yourself with some free time, how do you typically spend it? What do you like to do for fun?
DS: I have two kids who are in their twenties, and we love to travel together. I also love to take a lot of girls’ trips with my friends. I love to run and play golf, although my travel schedule over the past several years hasn’t allowed for many gold outings.
Last year, I realized that I needed to change my ways and focus on my health. I traveled 260 days last year (this year has been equally busy). I’ve started incorporating exercise into my daily routine and joined an all-women’s gym. That has been key for both my physical and mental health.
EG: What is your advice to aspiring women business leaders and entrepreneurs to advance their careers? What kind of insights do you share with others when you’re connecting with them or at speaking engagements?
DS: My biggest advice to aspiring women leaders is this: it’s never too late to begin. I started pH-D Feminine Health at forty-two. Every chapter of my life, my biology degree, twenty years in corporate healthcare, my sales experience, my relationships, even motherhood, prepared me for this moment. Life wasn’t happening to me; it was happening for me. And when you look at your own journey through that lens, you begin to see how equipped you already are to take the next step.
When I first started pH-D, I kept it very quiet. I didn’t want doubt or negativity, however well-intended, to cloud my vision. And when I eventually told people I was leaving my corporate job, many thought I was out of my mind. They said things like, “It’s not patentable,” or “You have two kids—how will you pay for college?” Most of that doubt came from the people closest to me, and while I know it came from love, it was incredibly draining. I realized quickly that I had to protect my energy and my belief in what I felt called to build.
That’s where one of my core mottos comes from: “Faith over fear.” Both require energy, but you get to choose which one you feed. The people around me were projecting fear…but I chose faith. I looked at the worst-case scenario: if it didn’t work, I could always get another job. But the regret of not trying…that would stay with me forever. I decided that I’d rather fail boldly than wonder “what if” for the rest of my life.
Another piece of advice I share often is this: do not compare yourself to others. Early on, I was constantly looking at what competitors were doing…big corporations with huge budgets, celebrities launching brands with massive followings. I could always find reasons to believe they were “better” or more entitled to success than I was. But that kind of comparison is erosive. It steals your joy, your creativity, and your momentum.
Eventually, I made a conscious decision: I will not compare myself to anyone else. I found a quote that became a guiding principle for me:
“Don’t be distracted by comparison when you’re captivated by purpose.”
That quote gave me so much peace. It allowed me to stay in my lane, honor my unique path, and trust that the world needs my gifts just as much as anyone else’s.
EG: What has it been like to be a Member of C200? What significance has it been in your life since you joined?
DS: Being a member of C200 has been incredibly meaningful. It’s such a unique organization because it brings together women from both the entrepreneurial and corporate worlds, two perspectives I rarely saw in one place. Coming from entrepreneurship, I’m learning so much from women who have led large teams, worked with boards, and navigated private equity. Their experience is invaluable as I think about scaling my own company.
What stands out most is how warm and welcoming the community is. The support, generosity, and genuine connection within C200 have truly blown me away. It has broadened my perspective, strengthened my confidence for the next stage of growth, and connected me with women whose leadership I deeply admire.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Jan 15, 2026 | Blog, Featured
Eva Davis is Managing Partner at Winston & Strawn, a global law firm with over 1,500 business professionals across 14 offices and 5 countries. She leads external affairs, focusing on clients, business development, marketing, branding, sales, and firm growth—including lateral partner hiring and acquisitions. Eva is also a seasoned M&A lawyer, advising some of the country’s most active private equity funds and founder-backed businesses across a number of industries with a particular focus on consumer products, technology, and industrials. Her career is driven by curiosity, a “getting to yes” mindset, and a commitment to continuous learning. She resides in Park City, Utah and also spends time in Hermosa Beach, CA, enjoying skiing, hiking, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and, most recently, country western line dancing. Eva joined C200 in 2025.
Eva Glassman: Please tell us about your role at Winston & Strawn. What do you love the most about your work, and what are some more challenging aspects?
Eva Davis: As one of three Managing Partners, I help guide our Chairman in running a billion-plus-dollar firm with 1,000 lawyers and 500 business professionals across the US, Europe, and South America. My focus is on all things external: clients, business development, sales, client special projects, marketing, and branding—as well as initiatives that drive firm growth. Previously, I chaired our firm’s transactions department, overseeing half the firm’s P&L and talent. Today, I work to solve our clients’ most complex challenges in a rapidly changing world and regulatory landscape.
Alongside my leadership role, I remain an active M&A dealmaker, primarily serving middle-market private equity clients and private companies. Recent highlights include advising Ghost Beverages on its sale to Keurig Dr Pepper and guiding LesserEvil in its sale to Hershey; both deals valued at over $1.0 billion. I thrive on the dynamic nature of M&A, especially in consumer brands, but also for bespoke manufacturing, technology, and lately, AI. If you’d like to hear any of my M&A tips, please check out my podcast “What’s the Deal?” that I post every other week on LinkedIn.
EG: Did you always know that you wanted to go into law?
ED: I’m one of those people who knew I wanted to be a lawyer at age seven. I grew up in the Washington, DC area. My father was a lawyer who worked for the federal government, but not in a big high-profile position. I found lawyers and their work interesting because they were always solving problems.
My early career included a range of legal work, from serving as a gofer, then secretary, and finally paralegal at a three-attorney firm near my childhood home during high school and college. That experience allowed me to learn the ins and outs of running a business from client intake, service, billing, and collections to hiring and managing talent.
I was in law school when LA Law was popular on television, so that became my idea of what it was like to be a lawyer. How wrong was I?! Funnily enough, I ended up in Los Angeles for my career, and all my friends and family were asking, “So is your job like LA Law?” [Laughs] It’s definitely not.
After a decade of practice, in 1999, I joined Kirkland & Ellis, one of the largest, most profitable firms in the US, to start the firm’s private equity practice in Los Angeles. In that role, I helped build the firm’s West Coast transactions practice as a young partner and new mother—a challenging but rewarding leap.
Those first few years at Kirkland were really tough. If you had interviewed me two or three years into that experience and asked me, “Would you have made this law firm and professional change knowing how hard these past few years have been?” I honestly don’t know if I would have said yes. Fast-forward twenty years later, if you ask me the same question, I’d say “Absolutely yes.” Sometimes you wonder, “What the heck did I get myself into?” and you just have to stay the course. And I did, and it worked.
EG: What are some moments you look back on and consider an important pivot point in your career? What were the moves you made to get you to that next step?
ED: Key career pivots included changing firms (twice) and stretching into new areas of expertise, even when uncomfortable. My move to Winston & Strawn eleven years ago was driven by client needs and market fit, and at the time, I selected a firm where I was comfortable with the culture, respected the partners, and had confidence in our own collective ambition.
Running for Chairman two years ago was a significant step. There were six of us who ran—five men and me. I ran because I thought I could do a great job in the role, and I wanted the additional leadership responsibility. I was also aware of my visible role as one of the most senior women at the firm, and I felt responsible to my women colleagues to show that it was possible for a woman to run a global law firm. It was a nine-month process, and I ultimately lost—but I positioned myself well enough that my new Chairman asked me to be one of the three Managing Partners supporting him.
EG: I’m curious about your journey to C200. How did you discover the organization? What made you join?
ED: When I lost the Chairman race, I was obviously disappointed—I really went for it. Several months passed before I was eventually offered the Managing Partner role, and during that time, I was planning my next challenge: to sit on the board of directors of a public company. I joined a couple of other women’s organizations that were focused on placing board-ready women on public company boards. While these organizations have some sense of community, none of them were focused on senior women currently running businesses and responsible for P&L. My network needed new connections: amazing senior women leaders who are still active in their careers.
Joining C200 was a combination of seeking my next challenge or chapter, as well as expanding my network to get into spaces with some fantastic senior women leaders. I am also passionate about connecting people, teams, clients, private equity funds, and current and prospective board members in my network with each other to develop innovative solutions, solve problems, amplify voices, and help find the next business, professional, or personal opportunity. I plan to do just that as a Member of C200.
EG: You mentioned that you were the only woman running for the Chairman position. When you first started working at a law firm, what was your experience like finding other women to connect with or aspire to?
ED: I’m one generation right after the generation of “first women”—the first woman partner, the first woman to run a practice group, the first woman to run an office, the first woman to run a firm—so I did see senior women at law firms who were inspirational. However, there weren’t that many. Almost all of my mentors over the course of my career were in fact men—because there were just more of them. I had a collection of people at different levels giving me advice and tips, but never a traditional mentor or singularly instrumental person who was a woman.
I was very conscious of how few women were in the senior ranks at the three global law firms where I have practiced for 35 years. This ties back to a key reason for me running for Chairman—I know how important it was for me to see what was possible, even if it was seeing just one senior woman in a key position.
When it comes to “mentorship” or seeking advice from others, I’m very much someone who subscribes to the “Personal Board of Directors” approach. For me, many of the people on my Personal Board are not within my own organization. Sometimes, I just want to sit down and be really honest, have blunt conversations, and get real tips—which is not always possible within your own organization. These board members have given me great advice on next steps, how I should think about my career progression, what I’m seeing in the market, how I’m handling clients, approaching issues, and so on.
Now that I’m part of C200, I’m excited to get to know the other Members more and hopefully become part of a really great network of Personal Boards.
EG: What does being a “woman in business” mean to you? How does that impact the way you lead and work?
ED: I have always believed that we need more diverse perspectives, gender or otherwise, to come together and solve our clients’ biggest problems. Whether you were trained as an engineer, an English major, or a lawyer, your life experience informs your perspective, and that really matters. I want to promote diverse perspectives in my leadership and day-to-day actions.
While I hesitate to subscribe to stereotypes or over-generalizations, I do feel that emotional intelligence and authenticity are hallmarks of women’s leadership, and I aim to model vulnerability and openness—sharing both successes and struggles.
I also seek to bring out the best in others, especially when meeting in groups—knowing that there are some people who are not going to speak first or be the loudest but may generate our best ideas. That ranges from how I might run a meeting, to whom I might call on, to whom I might seek to form committees or make decisions.
Demonstrating alternative ways to lead is also important. For instance, as a leader, I’m not someone who takes up the room. I contribute and speak when I have something to say. You don’t need to monopolize the conversation in order to get your points across. The loudest voice in the room isn’t necessarily the one with the most authority on an issue.
I also try to be an authentic, vulnerable leader for others to see as an example for how to lead. The “perfect” woman leader was something I saw much more in the 90s that I don’t see as much now. I try to embody a level of authenticity with others, especially so that women don’t see me and think, “She looks like she’s got it all together!” Because I don’t have it all together! I’m very intentional about sharing my struggles with my colleagues and those I mentor. Showing up as an authentic leader with your struggles each and every day can be hard. My goal is to show others that you don’t have to be perfect to make things work. Initiatives I spearheaded like “Candid Conversations” at our firm create space for honest dialogue and visibility for our women.
EG: Giving women the opportunity to bring authenticity to the workspace is so important because we all have the chance to change what being a leader looks like, so that it’s more attainable for everyone.
ED: To that point, I try to show up this way for our men, too. I’m a big believer that if the men are talking about their kids, families, culture, and their issues, women will feel even more comfortable in doing so as well. The obligation to change the workplace culture shouldn’t just fall on the women.
I was actually one of the initial advocates at my firm for equal parental leave for our male and female attorneys. Our parental leave now provides our mothers and fathers with the same amount of time. I also encourage our men to take the full leave because I don’t want any firm partners assuming the men on their teams won’t (and that the women will) take that time, which could impact staffing and promotion decisions. For example, if a partner assumes someone recently married and of a certain age will have kids in the next few years, I want the partner to also assume a man will take just as much parental leave as a woman, so the staffing or promotion decision is truly based on merit, not the risk that a woman might not be here next year.
EG: What is your advice to younger women trying to advance their careers?
ED: Prepare yourself for your next position now. When you have that greater ambition, how are you developing the skills that you need for your next role? Every organization is political—so how do you make your ambition known in ways that service the organization? Having a Personal Board of Directors to consult about these questions is huge.
In law firms and with our clients, I often see women who are at a point in their careers where they’re becoming partners or vice presidents between ages thirty and thirty-five—which is also the time when they’re having children. When experiencing these professional and life milestones, it’s important to figure out ways to stay visible.
While it’s good to be selective and intentional with your time, if you’re seeking that next level, it’s the opportunities you accept that will help you reach it. Say yes to the things that matter and help advance your career, your development, and your learning—even if it’s difficult or uncomfortable. At the same time, give yourself permission to say no to things that aren’t going to matter, whether it’s personal or professional.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
