Guardians of Progress: The Role of Associations in Closing the Women’s Health Gap

Mary Stutts is the Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) where she leads the global mission to accelerate the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare and health equity.

Mary brings to the HBA 30 years of experience leading the strategic integration of corporate branding, marketing, health equity, inclusion, and digital innovation for biopharma, healthcare, and media companies. Her expertise and cross functional acumen have provided global leadership to organizations and Fortune 500 companies including Genentech, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sumitovant, UnitedHealth Group, Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Health Care, and Comcast NBCUniversal.

Previously, Stutts was the Global Chief Inclusion and Health Equity Officer at Real Chemistry where she drove inclusion and equitable care for clients by integrating customized digital analytics and data intelligence to increase market penetration and clinical trial diversity.

Among her many accomplishments, as the former Chief Inclusion and Health Equity Officer at Stanford Health Care, Stutts worked directly with the board to curate the Inclusive Leadership Workshop which was designed to develop executives capable of leading, growing, and transforming organizations while addressing racial and social injustice and inequity amongst all stakeholders. Additionally, Stutts led Genentech’s $5 million Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative to increase the representation of people of color and women; enhanced a culture of workplace inclusion and health equity during Bristol Myers Squibb’s business model transformation; and oversaw fulfillment of the FCC’s digital equity conditions in Comcast’s California Region required for the acquisition of NBCUniversal.  

Stutts is a recognized advocate of women in leadership and has been at the forefront of board readiness programs to increase the representation of women and people of color on public and private corporate boards.

As an accomplished author, Mary’s new book, Recurring Themes of Exclusion in the Workplace, provides an in-depth analysis of ongoing exclusionary practices in the workplace and details the path needed to achieve true “inclusive diversity.” Her book The Missing Mentor:  Women Advising Women on Power, Progress and Priorities has been dubbed a surrogate mentor for women focused on career advancement.

Stutts earned a Master of Health Administration degree at the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the Executive Program on Strategy and Organization at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Kathryn “Katie” Schubert has served as President & CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) since April 2020. She is a trusted leader and consensus builder among women’s health stakeholders, and previously served as chief advocacy officer at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM). Schubert began her career on Capitol Hill and subsequently advised organizations on policy strategy in the healthcare space. She is a board member of the National Health Council, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, and ASPN Foundation. She is a previous president of Women in Government Relations, and in 2020 was named Advocate of the Year by Professional Women in Advocacy for her work on inclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in research, and in 2024 named as one of the most influential people shaping policy in healthcare by the Washingtonian magazine. Schubert holds a bachelor’s degree from Mary Washington College and a master’s degree from the George Washington University. When not advocating for women’s health, she’s spending time with her husband, three kids, and dog George.