Speakers
Carol Hess is the Vice President, Worldwide Workstation Product Management and Go-to-Market (GTM). In this role, she is responsible for HP’s commercial Desktop Workstation and Mobile Workstation Products from the plan-of-record, though launch, and the end-of-life. Carol’s team also has responsibility for all of the Workstations Go-To-Market activity including product launch, marketing collateral, messaging, videos, AR/PR, customer presentations and more.
During her 28 years at HP, Carol has held numerous Vice President positions in Mobility, PC’s, and Notebooks where her team was responsible for the planning, launching, and sustaining activity of the various product lines. She was also the Director of Strategy, Planning, and Operations for the Americas Region. From 2000 – 2004, Carol was Director of Industry Standard Servers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), located in Munich, Germany. Carol joined Compaq in 1989 in Houston, Texas.
In addition to her work at HP, Carol often speaks on panels and shares career advice and her work experiences. She was one of three executive sponsors to start the Houston Chapter of “Women@Work” and while at HP in Germany, she initiated and led a similar group, the first European “Women's ERG Group.” She is a mentor to several employees inside and outside of HP, Inc.
Outside of HP, Carol is currently on the Board of Directors of the Greater Houston Partnership and the Board of Directors for the Texas Diversity Council. She was Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Houston Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) through 2016. Carol is a member of the Houston Executive Women’s Partnership (EWP) through the Greater Houston Partnership.
Carol’s civic and professional honors include “Top 15 Business Women of Houston” award from the National Diversity Council in 2017; Houston Women’s Magazine “Top 50 Most influential Women of Houston” award in 2013; Association of Women in Computing (AWC) award for “Leadership in Technology” in 2005.
On a personal level, Carol’s interests include family, giving back, wine tasting, international and domestic travel, antiquing, cooking, skiing, and driving her Tesla. She is a regular “Commit for Life” blood donor and Adopt-a-Beach volunteer.