Meet Box’s new VP of Communities & Impact, and Executive Director of Box.org, Corrie Conrad

We are thrilled to welcome Corrie Conrad to Box as the VP of Communities and Impact, and Executive Director of Box.org! In her new role, Corrie Corrie will set the vision and manage all aspects of social impact and communities at Box, including Box.org. We sat down with Corrie to learn more about her background and what drew her to Box.

Can you tell me about your career journey up until joining us at Box?

I love helping companies use their strengths for the greater good. Before Box, I led Social Impact, Sustainability, and Inclusion & Diversity for Sephora. Prior to that I was at Google for 8 years. I've also worked for non-profits focused on public health and education. I've always been a very mission-driven person and somewhat surprisingly found my niche helping companies do well by doing good. 

In your role at Sephora, you designed and led Sephora Stands, an accelerator program for female brand founders. Tell us more about that.

Sephora Stands included a number of programs that used the strengths of Sephora to stand with its people, our planet and our communities. One of those programs is Sephora Accelerate, a 6-month accelerator for women entrepreneurs in beauty. It includes a bootcamp, mentorship, financial support, and a demo day where founders pitch to investors and Sephora leaders.

When I started at Sephora I loved learning about how they worked with founders to help them grow and launch their brands. I was surprised to discover that the majority of top selling brands at Sephora then were founded or led by men, even though the majority of Sephora's customers were women. Sephora Accelerate started as a way to use the strengths of Sephora to support beauty founders for even greater good by focusing on addressing the gender inequality facing entrepreneurs.

What drew you to Box?

The people. The product. The opportunity.

I'm a futurist and a builder. Box seeks to power how the world works together and has an amazing culture. There's a strong foundation of giving through Box.org with strong support to explore how we might use our strengths for even greater good. Ultimately, I believe in the power of our product and see how it is making the world a better place.

At Box, one of our values is to ‘Make Mom Proud’, which feels especially relevant to the work you’ve been doing your entire career. What does ‘Make Mom Proud’ mean to you?

I love 'Make Mom Proud'. To me it means be brave and give it your best. 

What are you most excited for as you get started in this new role?

It's so hard for me to pick one thing. I love learning and tend to be super curious. Currently, I'm really enjoying listening and learning all I can about who we are, all that we do and why. I like asking "why". Why do we do what we do? And I like asking "how might we?" How might we use our strengths for even greater good? In my experience, some of the most impactful breakthroughs have come from ideas that emerged from bringing together varied expertise and perspectives. Cross-pollination leads to innovation. I'm really excited to create space for cross-pollination and innovation for good at Box; to inspire ownership (Be an owner!) of Communities and Impact, and Box.org work throughout the company. This good work doesn't belong to any one team, it is all of ours. And I get to help shepherd that -- which is incredibly exciting!