Lam-Larsen Distinguished Lecture Series - with Laxman Narasimhan and Chris Larsen
Overview
Join us on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, for the third annual Lam-Larsen Distinguished Lecture Series event featuring an illuminating conversation on "The Power of Purpose: Strategic Leadership Lessons from the C-Suite" with Laxman Narasimhan, former CEO of Starbucks and Reckitt, and former CCO of PepsiCo, led by Chris Larsen (B.S., '84), Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Ripple, Inc.
- Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
- Time: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Topic and Speakers: Fireside Chat on "The Power of Purpose: Strategic Leadership Lessons from the C-Suite" with Laxman Narasimhan, led by Chris Larsen (BS, ‘84)
- Location: Seven Hills Conference Center, 800 Font Blvd., at San Francisco State University main campus
Registration is required by October 20 at 1 p.m. to attend this event.
Laxman Narasimhan will share insights on successful strategies that align brand values, innovation, and purpose-driven leadership for today’s dynamic market, drawing from his global experience leading iconic consumer brands and navigating complex challenges with strategic clarity and empathy.
Laxman spent 19 years at McKinsey & Company where he honed the strategic thinking and operational discipline that would define his leadership philosophy. At PepsiCo, as Global Chief Commercial Officer, he crafted and executed commercial strategies across continents, fueling growth through customer-centric innovation. As CEO of Reckitt, he orchestrated a successful turnaround: revitalizing key brands, doubling e‑commerce business, and guiding the company through the COVID‑19 crisis with resilience and digital foresight. At Starbucks, Laxman infused brand stewardship with empathy—immersing himself in company culture by training as a barista for six months before formally assuming the CEO role. He championed operational simplification and alignment with the human experience behind the brand. Laxman’s leadership is defined by a rare blend of humility, strategic clarity, and transformative execution.
Speakers
Laxman Narasimhan
Former CEO of Starbucks and Reckitt, and former CCO of PepsiCo
Chris Larsen (BS, ‘84)
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Ripple
Laxman Narasimhan Biography
Laxman Narasimhan is a transformational, people-driven leader with over 30 years of experience leading and advising global brands, applying his impactful strategic skills, operational grit, and commercial acumen to deliver world-class outcomes and exceptional results. Laxman is focused on leading, advising and investing in an era of deglobalization, shifting consumer dynamics, and the rise of AI.
At PepsiCo, Laxman rallied talent to fundamentally transform the Latin American Sector through consumer-centric and digital innovation, operational excellence and execution, while positioning the European and Sub-Saharan business for long-term growth. At Reckitt, he reinvigorated the company’s ownership culture to better deliver on its purpose to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world. Laxman led the team through an immediate strategy reset, courageous portfolio reshaping, and digital transformation; invested in science and innovation as well as commercial excellence; and stepped up productivity and talent focus to deliver very strong performance amid a global pandemic. At Starbucks, after working in stores for six months to deeply learn the business, he led a reinvention program to fundamentally improve the partner experience while implementing the strategic roadmap for customer experience and connection over coffee—navigating headwinds and positioning the company for its next phase of growth.
Prior to PepsiCo, his global career at McKinsey over 19 years straddled consumer, retail, consumer health, consumer tech, industrial, and private capital.
He is a trustee of Brookings Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of Verizon’s Board of Directors. He was previously a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Build Back Better Council.
Laxman speaks six languages. He and his family have lived around the world, as he has worked across the private, public, and social sectors throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, University of Pune, India. He also has an MA in German and International Studies from The Lauder Institute at The University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Chris Larsen Biography
Chris Larsen is Executive Chairman of Ripple’s board of directors. He is a co-founder and former CEO of Ripple, a blockchain company he co-founded in 2012. Chris is a pioneer in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, creating a global decentralized network called RippleNet that uses the digital asset, XRP, to facilitate payments across borders and financial networks. Prior to Ripple, Chris co-founded and served as CEO of Prosper, the first peer-to-peer lending marketplace, and E-LOAN, a publicly-traded online lender that helped democratize lending and finance. During his tenure at E-LOAN, he pioneered the open access to credit scores movement by making E-LOAN the first company to show consumers their FICO scores.
In 2019, San Francisco State received the largest digital donation ever to a U.S. university courtesy of Chris, his wife Lyna Lam, and Rippleworks, the nonprofit organization he co-launched in 2015. The donation established the Lam Family College of Business as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Chris earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Business Administration from San Francisco State University.
Reasonable accommodations: This event welcomes persons with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations upon request. Please send an email to Paul Glanting at pbg@sfsu.edu at least 7 days before the event to request reasonable accommodations and include the event name in your email.