Lee Wills-Irvine leads Global Diversity & Inclusion at Qualcomm. Her mission is to leverage employee talents and capabilities for innovation and productivity in a manner that supports organizational values. Additionally, she is responsible for diversity-related external communication and outreach. Wills-Irvine also oversees employee training to ensure diversity is woven throughout the Company to provide a competitive advantage.
Wills-Irvine’s work assisted Qualcomm in receiving the Athena Pinnacle Award, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association Corporate Leadership Award for Diversity, Higginbotham Corporate Leadership Award for Diversity as well as the Secretary’s Award by the Department of Labor. Under her leadership, Qualcomm was ranked as the 6th Most Diverse Company on FORTUNE’s “Best Places to Work List”.
Wills-Irvine helped design and manage Qualcomm’s Women’s Mentoring Program and was instrumental in the development of the Athena San Diego Mentoring Program. She spearheaded a program funded by Qualcomm that created a $1 million endowment for local students to pursue degrees in math, science and engineering. She currently serves on the Governance Board of Walden Family Services and is a member of the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT). Previously, Wills-Irvine was the Chair of the Urban League of San Diego and served on the board of directors for LEAD San Diego. She has presented at the Conference Board, National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE), has been featured on Leadership Matters with Dr. G Radio Show and is a recipient of the Women Who Mean Business Award by the San Diego Business Journal and was recently recognized with the President’s Special Diversity Award by the Urban League of San Diego County.
Wills-Irvine has a Bachelor’s of science degree in business administration and executive education in leadership from UCLA Anderson School of Business and a Certificate in Human Resources from Chapman University.