Corina Clark

I am a people leader, and for me, I measure success by the way I've positively impacted the lives of people who have been under my leadership. For example, I recruited a young woman from New York in 2022 or 2023 to come be a supervisor under me. She's a single mom with kids, and she told me she was going to uproot her entire life to come to California from New York, and she needed my word that this would not end badly for her and her kids. Her dad was really concerned. I brought her out to California, gave her my word because I was blown away by how great she was. I ended up leaving that organization and brought her with me as my director when I became the associate COO at the Department of Public Health. I promised her that once I finished, I would set her up to step into my role. She's currently serving as the associate COO of that hospital. She came with me in 2023 under a promise and her fingers crossed, and now I get messages from her every other day with pictures of the kids, they're loving their school, thanking me. That is how I measure my success: how many people can I have that positive impact on, not just their lives, but this is going to impact their kids and how they grow up and their experiences.

I created a SMILE acronym that I use in my keynotes. S is Secure Strategic Sponsor: find somebody in your area who you can align with, not just mentorship, but who's already in the rooms. As a Black woman, we represent less than 15% of these roles and get paid 64 cents to the dollar, so find people like Jimmy from the executive team who are in the rooms already and secure that sponsorship so they can speak and uplift you. M is Measure and Market Your Metrics: be able to speak to where you've added value, create a one-sheeter about your superpowers, and be very clear about what that is and how you show up. I is Invest in Skills that Matter: if finance isn't your jam, get into healthcare finance courses, join healthcare associations where you can drill down on your opportunities. L is Learn When to Say No: we're constantly being granted proposals that offer 50% less than what you're worth, and we're told we should be happy to take the job. If you're not satisfied with the deal, if it's not going to help put your family in a better position, learn when to say no. It's a muscle we need to get used to. E is Engage with Confidence: show up even if you don't feel like you're 100% ready, because confidence is 50% of it. We know the demographic that's going to apply to every job even if they're not ready, so step in with that same confidence.

Some of the biggest challenges in healthcare today include persistent racial disparities—particularly in maternal mortality and executive representation—along with complex regulatory demands like Medicare and Medicaid recertification. At the same time, there is a critical need to better support teams navigating the emotional weight of working in organ procurement and alongside grieving families, while creating more equitable and inclusive systems at every level.

I'm very intentional about my time management and making sure I invest in things that matter to me for my mental health and emotional well-being. My day starts at 4am because I need to be active, meditate, walk my dogs, and be present. I am intentional about my calendar, and if something doesn't fit into my normal operating hours, I get up earlier to make sure that piece of my day is done. In my work with organ procurement, my staff go out day in and day out meeting with families who have had tragic losses and having conversations about the gift of life, and that's heavy on them. In order for me to show up for them, I need to be 100%. So I invest in things that I know will balance me, like taking dance classes. I block my calendar and I'm very intentional about not allowing anyone to overbook me during my time. That's how I balance my mental and emotional health, by investing in those things that bring me back to my center.