Chikako Harada Amendola

Chikako Amendola is a seasoned marketing and commercial leader with more than two decades of experience driving brand growth, product innovation, and organizational transformation across the consumer packaged goods and healthcare sectors. She currently serves as Executive Director of Henry Schein Products US Marketing, where she leads owned brands strategy for dental and medical products. A graduate of Cornell University and Rice Business School, Chikako built her career at some of the most respected names in consumer goods, including Kimberly-Clark, Playtex, Energizer, and The Nature's Bounty Co., where she consistently delivered strong P&L results while spearheading new product launches, channel strategy, and brand building efforts. Throughout her career, Chikako has distinguished herself not only through business results but through the integrity with which she leads. One of her defining professional moments came while at Energizer, when she made the difficult call to cancel a product launch when product test results would not allow a key claim to be made—choosing long-term brand performance over short-term gains, even as she was simultaneously navigating her father's cancer diagnosis and caring for her family. Her leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in the values instilled by her Japanese upbringing: humility, respect, perseverance, and authenticity. These principles, she believes, are not limitations but genuine strengths that have shaped her into an effective and respected female executive, earning her recognition as one of Drug Store News' Top Women in Health, Wellness & Beauty for Business Excellence in 2019. Beyond her corporate achievements, Chikako is deeply committed to empowering the next generation of women leaders. She is a board member of WE (Women Empowering), an organization focused on enabling diversity, inclusion and engagement to expand women’s voices in the Health and Wellness industry.

She hopes to expand her mentorship work even further in the years ahead. Outside of the office, she finds balance and joy in spending time with her ten-year-old daughter, often through long Sunday morning walks together. Her story reflects a rare combination of business acumen, personal resilience, and a genuine dedication to lifting up the women who lead and drive change for a better world.