Claudia Brind-Woody

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Claudia Lavergne Brind-Woody is an American business executive who serves as vice president and managing director of IBM’s Global Intellectual Property Licensing. Born in Virginia in the mid-1950s, she has built a career in both athletics administration and technology. She earned a BA from Mary Baldwin College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in 1977, an MS from the University of Tennessee, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin (where she received the Kozmetsky Prize), and a JD magna cum laude from Georgia State University. Early in her career she worked in college athletics at UT Austin, including roles as Assistant Dean of the College & Graduate School of Business and as Assistant Women’s Athletics Director, and she also worked for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

Brind-Woody joined IBM in 1996 and leads the Global IP Licensing group, including the source code licensing team, the Divestiture Practice, the IP Partnership program, and IP Management Solutions. She is the Global Co-Chair of IBM’s LGBT Executive Taskforce, which has launched initiatives to make IBM more welcoming to LGBT employees, such as Straight Ally Training. She has spoken at numerous international events on LGBT rights and diversity. Her work has been recognized with awards and honors, including the Out & Equal Trailblazer Award (2011) and inclusion on The Guardian’s list of the 100 most influential LGBT people (2012), as well as multiple appearances on the Financial Times’ OUTstanding lists and other recognitions.