Robin L. Washington, Chief Financial Officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is the 2017 Financial Woman of the Year after being selected by Financial Women of San Francisco. The award for her leadership and accomplishments in her various finance roles will be presented at the Financial Woman of the Year luncheon on October 6, 2017.
Apparently, this is not the first time that Washington is receiving such honorable accolades. As a senior female leader, she has previously been named one of Black Enterprise’s “Most Powerful Women in Corporate America. She also took the sixth position on the Wall Street Journal’s 2014 list of top-performing CFOs on the S&P 500.
Washington’s work at Gilead
Having joined the company in 2008, Washington is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the Finance and Information Technology organizations. She is also behind the establishment of the Women’s Leadership Forum for the CFO organization, within which, she supports female leaders develop their leadership skills.
Her encouragement to women in their career and life journeys is one of the many things that put her at the top of others. The president of the Financial Women of San Francisco, Paige Venable, stated, “Robin Washington was selected based on her dedication to the advancement of women she serves as an inspiring role model for women who strive to achieve senior leadership positions.”
Three decades in the Bay Area
Washington has been in the Bay Area for close to three decades having interacted with phenomenal peers and legendary companies. Some of them though are no longer there. She previously worked for PeopleSoft and Hyperion before making a shift to the global biopharmaceutical company.
Accepting her award, Washington expressed her passion in advancing women in leadership roles and careers in finance. She also acknowledged having received incredible inspiration from innovative environments, her sponsors, colleagues, and family.
The FWSF Scholarship Fund has been offering graduate and undergraduate scholarships to San Francisco Bay Area women. Records have it that it has so far awarded over $2 million worth of funding to more than 270 women in the last three decades. In the meantime, Gilead stock was trading at $64.50 a fall of $0.06 or 0.09%.
