Ayana Parsons

Ayana Parsons is a Senior Partner in Korn Ferry’s Board & CEO Practice with nearly 20 years of executive talent and leadership experience as both a practitioner and consultant. She currently serves a diverse client base of customer- and consumer-centric public and privately held companies, placing talented executives onto Boards and into the C-Suite via CEO, President and Chief Marketing Officers roles. In addition, Ayana leads Korn Ferry’s global Power of All platform, which helps unlock and unleash the potential and power of all leaders by driving greater diversity and inclusion in the C-suite and boardrooms.
Prior to Korn Ferry, Ayana served as the Global Head of Retail, Consumer Goods, and Lifestyle Industries at the World Economic Forum where she led the preeminent global discussions in Davos, Switzerland on all topics related to her respective industries.

Ayana is a highly sought-after talent and leadership expert with a wealth of experience leading leaders and their respective organizations to sustained and transformational growth. She has hosted executive gatherings in the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America to address the many challenges facing today’s global business leaders and is passionate about the role that business plays in making the world a better place. That passion led her to co-found two social impact businesses, one of which is Fearless Fund, a $25 million venture capital fund and the first of its kind – for women of color, by women of color. In addition, as part of her efforts to advance diversity and inclusion at the highest levels, Ayana served as a cabinet member of Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research where she served as a global thought leader on closing the gender gap in corporate boardrooms and in the executive suite. A seasoned industry executive, Ayana’s career spans sales, marketing and general management roles at several of the world’s most admired companies including Philips, Pfizer, Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble.

Ayana attended Oral Roberts University on a Division I basketball scholarship. and completed her studies at Florida A&M University, where she earned a B.S. in Management and an MBA in Marketing. Ayana resides in Atlanta with her husband, Dr. Ebbie Parsons III, and her two young daughters.