Corina B. Clark : The Power to Rise, and Bring Others With Her | Person of the Year

December 22, 2025

Some leaders are shaped by opportunity.
Others are shaped by adversity.

Corina B. Clark was shaped by the decision, made again and again, to rise anyway.

A Life Forged Through Resilience

Corina B. Clark’s story did not begin with ease or certainty. It began in motion, improvised and uncertain, held together by the fierce resolve of a young mother who refused to let circumstance dictate destiny. Raised amid financial hardship and instability, Corina learned early that strength is not inherited. It is built. And resilience is not loud. It is persistent.

That understanding became the throughline of her life’s work.

Where Expression Became Empowerment

Before she ever led organizations, Corina learned how to lead herself. As a child navigating unpredictability, she found grounding in movement. Dance became her first classroom for discipline, focus, and emotional intelligence. It taught her how to listen, how to tell a story without words, how to command a room, and how to turn raw experience into intentional expression.

At just 16 years old, Corina transformed that passion into purpose by launching an all-star dance and cheer organization in South Sacramento. The world of all-star cheer and dance was an elite space that many, including Corina herself growing up, could not afford to access.

Her model was different. It was bold and human-centered. Access over elitism. Commitment over privilege.

No one was turned away. Contribution took many forms. Excellence was expected and achieved. If students were willing to show up and do the work, Corina ensured they had a place on her team.

What began as a small, unconventional program grew into an internationally competitive organization, producing world champions and shaping the lives of more than 2,000 young people. Yet the true victories were not measured in medals. They were measured in restored confidence, expanded futures, and emerging leaders.

Presence on the World’s Stages and Life’s Hardest Moments

In her twenties, Corina stepped onto one of the most visible platforms in professional sports as a dancer for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Under bright lights and global attention, she learned the power of presence and how visibility, when used with intention, can inspire belief in others.

But it was loss that clarified her deeper calling.

The sudden death of a close friend during childbirth and her beloved nephew’s battle with leukemia shattered any illusion that success alone was enough. These moments exposed systemic inequities in healthcare and ignited a resolve that would redirect Corina’s path.

At the time, Corina was already working as a respiratory therapist while simultaneously running her business. At the bedside, she witnessed both the power of compassionate care and the consequences of decisions made far beyond the hospital room.

Determined to influence those decisions, she returned to school to earn her Master of Public Administration. Her goal was clear: to step into leadership roles where policy, systems, and strategy could protect lives before crisis ever arrived.

She carried the lessons of the bedside with her. Leadership is often quiet. Trust is earned in moments of fear. Steady presence can change outcomes when everything feels uncertain.

Changing Systems, Not Just Outcomes

Driven to create impact at scale, Corina moved into healthcare leadership, bringing clinical credibility, operational rigor, and a deeply human approach to decision-making.

She has since held senior leadership roles across complex healthcare systems, including UCLA Health, San Francisco’s Department of Public Health, and community health centers serving underserved and unhoused populations.

Her results speak clearly. Transformational workforce improvements. Nationally recognized safety initiatives. Expanded access to care. Sustainable financial growth. All while centering dignity, equity, and accountability.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Corina led respiratory operations through one of the most consequential public health crises of modern times. With teams stretched, resources scarce, and lives at stake, she built systems in real time. She guided clinicians, supported exhausted staff, and ensured care when it mattered most.

A Voice Shaping the Future of Leadership

Today, Corina serves as Chief Operating Officer of a community health center, overseeing clinical operations, behavioral health services, and programs for the unhoused.

She is also the incoming 2026 President of the California Association of Healthcare Leaders, the Northern California Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Her chapter represents nearly 2,000 healthcare executives statewide, and she is a trusted national voice on resilience, equity, and modern leadership.

Her work has been recognized by Becker’s Healthcare as a “Top COO to Know,” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a “Top Woman of Influence,” and by Women We Admire as a “Top Woman Leader.”

In 2025, she delivered her TEDx talk, Divine Disruption: Breaking the Mold of Modern Leadership, challenging outdated leadership paradigms and redefining what strength, authenticity, and courage look like in positions of power. The talk has since gone viral, nearing 400,000 views.

Why People Remember Her

What sets Corina apart is not the breadth of her experience. It is the depth of her presence.

She leads with clarity forged in crisis, compassion earned through loss, and confidence rooted in service. She does not just build organizations. She builds people.

Her story is not one of escape from hardship, but of transformation through it.

And when Corina B. Clark steps onto a stage or into a room, people do not just listen. They lean in. Because they sense what is real.

She is living proof that leadership is not about where you start. It is about who you choose to become and how many lives you are willing to elevate along the way.

Meet her once, and you understand.

This is a leader you do not forget.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinaclark

Noah Mitchell

Noah Mitchell is a distinguished author, journalist, and a highly regarded contributor to Featured American Magazine. With a keen eye for detail, a passion for storytelling, and a deep understanding of the American landscape, Noah's articles offer readers captivating insights into the multifaceted aspects of the American experience.