Carla Harris

Carla Harris earned an economics degree from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1987 with second-year honours. She then built a career of more than three decades at Morgan Stanley, one of the world's leading investment banks.

At Morgan Stanley she became a senior figure in equity capital markets, working with companies in sectors including technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrials and healthcare. She headed the bank's Emerging Manager Platform and was responsible for equity private placements, and was a longtime member of the equity syndicate desk.

Harris rose to become a Vice Chairman of Wealth Management and a Senior Client Advisor, and was described as the first African American to join Morgan Stanley's management committee. She also founded the firm's Multicultural Innovation Lab and the award-winning podcast Access and Opportunity.

Alongside banking, Harris is an acclaimed gospel recording artist, who sings with groups including the St. Charles Gospelites. She is also an author, writing the books Expect to Win (2009), Strategize to Win (2014) and Lead to Win (2022), and is known for her signature leadership advice called Carla's Pearls.

Harris chaired the Morgan Stanley Foundation from 2005 to 2014, and in 2013 President Barack Obama appointed her chair of the National Women's Business Council. She has served on boards including Walmart, Sesame Workshop and Harvard's Board of Overseers, was named to Fortune's list of the 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America, and has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities.