Making History: 10 Black Women Leaders Inspire With Advice, Purpose, Action
Ursula Burns, former Xerox CEO, offers recent insight on her career as first Black woman Fortune 500 CEO.
At the intersection of the close of Black History Month and the start of Women’s History Month, Take The Lead salutes 10 Black women leaders across industries and influence. Diving into their contributions and keen advice for leaders today, there is so much wisdom to glean that moves far past one month of the year. And into forever.
Black History Month began in 1915 in this country, and was made into law in 1986. In spite of Google recently eliminating its visual salute to the month and the Department of Defense declaring it erased—as well as Women’s History Month and National Disability Employment Month—Take The Lead acknowledges the depth and breadth of Black women in business, entrepreneurship, education, media and all of American culture far past the calendar month of the year.
“@takeleadwomen acknowledges the #depth and #breadth of #Blackwomen in #business, #entrepreneurship, #education, #media and all of #American #culture far past the calendar month of the year.”
Read more from Gloria Feldt on Black History Month
What is in place now is an historic and ongoing systemic infrastructure that holds up racism, sexism, and bias. The 2024 McKinsey & Co. Women in The Workplace Report shows, “Women remain underrepresented across the pipeline, a gender gap that persists regardless of race and ethnicity. Simply put, men outnumber women at every level.”
The report continues, “For women of color, who represent only 7 percent of current C-suite positions—(there is) just a four-percentage-point increase since 2017. After notable improvements in 2021 and 2022, Black women's promotion rates this year regressed to 2020 levels,” to 54 % in 2024 down from 96% in 2022.
The forecast predicts it will take 48 more years for ”the representation of white women and women of color in senior leadership to reflect their share of the U.S population.” As leadership parity is the mission of Take The Lead across race and gender identities, McKinsey states that efforts need to continue specifically with these goals.
Read more from Gloria Feldt on Black History Month
“Companies will need to maintain their current rate of progress, which means addressing weak spots in their pipelines: by finally fixing the broken rung, investing more resources in developing women leaders, and holding themselves accountable for more substantive progress in senior-leadership roles,” McKinsey states.
Read more in Take The Lead on Black History Month
Here are 10 inspiring Black women leaders across industries and fields who share their insights on moving forward with integrity, purpose and dignity.
1. Carole Boyce Davies, author of several books on Black women’s politics, recently published, Black Women’s Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power, “which explores Black women’s roles as transformational leaders in the highest political positions and on the grassroots community levels.” Published prior to the 2024 election, Boyce Davies tells Ms.: “It’s a contradiction we live in, isn’t it? That in the middle of joy, you have these other things taking place, but you can’t let it deter you from moving forward. What gives me hope? Just the rapidness of the possibility of historical change. And it probably is a moment that we will hold onto and cherish.”
“What gives me #hope? Just the rapidness of the #possibility of #historical #change. And it probably is a moment that we will hold onto and cherish. -@Ca_Rule”
2. Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox, after moving up the ladder for decades, was the first Black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. MSN reports that she seized every “opportunity thrown her way at work, no matter how inconvenient.” In a recent interview, MSN reports she says, "I don't think there was a single thing I said no to in the first 15 years of my career at Xerox. This is something that I was trained to do by my mother and schooling: You did what you were asked, and you don't hand in sloppy work." She adds, "So, I think one of my superpowers is that I take very few things for granted. I hustle through everything. People try to get there without paying the dues. I didn't think of them as dues."
Read more in Take The Lead on Black women leaders
3. Diana L. Burley, Ph.D., executive director of the Shalal M. Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute at American University. Serving as Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, and Professor of Public Administration at American, Burley is passionate about educating the next generation filling the cyber workforce. “An innovative and creative future tech workforce depends on a community of critical thinkers with varying points of view, experiences, backgrounds, experiences and voices. When there is an assault on sources of expertise and intellectual knowledge due to certain identities of race, gender or ability, the value assigned to individuals becomes less about what they know, and more about who they represent.” She adds, “I directly see the need for the responsibility of training the future tech workforce with a fair and just path of entry, growth and advancement. This mission goes beyond politics and transcends the term limits of any administration.”
““An innovative and creative future tech workforce depends on a community of critical thinkers with varying points of view, experiences, backgrounds, experiences and voices,” Diana L. Burley @AmericanUniversity”
4. Nina Turner, founder of We Are Somebody, Senior Fellow at The the New School Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy. She served on Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns as a national surrogate in 2016 and national co-chair in 2020. The Honorable Nina Turner is a former Ohio State Senator. “There are people also out there doing the work to bring justice to bear,” Turner tells The Intercept. “We got to have those conversations both within unions and outside of unions, that working-class people from all walks of life have to come together and fight for their best interests.” Turner offered at the organization’s founding, "Our goal is to ensure that the economic freedom and rights of the working class become a lived reality, not merely a point of discussion."
5. Gabrielle Glore, executive director of the Leading Women Defined Foundation, tells Huffington Post, at the recent, Rising Leaders Program, “These women are not just leaders in their fields — they are architects of spaces where authenticity, innovation and joy flourish.”
She adds, “For young Black women, this kind of leadership is vital — it demonstrates what’s possible and inspires them to envision even greater futures. What this election has taught me is that we have to stop asking for permission. We have to stop asking for people to give us a seat at the table. There is no glass ceiling. Our biggest resource is ourselves. They’re threatened by us, and the reason why is because we’re the most educated demographic in this country, and when we get our minds set to do something, we do it, and in absolutely impossible circumstances.”
“What this #election has taught me is that we have to stop asking for #permission. We have to stop asking for people to give us a #seatatthetable. There is no #glassceiling. -Gabrielle Glore”
Read more in Take The Lead on Black women leaders in Black History Month
6. Kamala Harris, former vice president of the United States. The Independent reports recently that her first public speech since leaving the White House was when she received the “Chairman’s Award at the 56th NAACP Image Awards. The award honors those who excel in public service and leverage their unique platforms to ignite and drive meaningful change.” Harris says, that in difficult times, “we know exactly what to do because we have done it before, and we will do it again. We use our power, we organize, mobilize, we educate and we advocate, because you see, our power has never come from having an easy path.” She adds, “The American story will be written by you, written by us, by we the people.”
7. Nancy Johnson, author of several books, including the new novel, People of Means. Johnson tells Chicago Review of Books of her book set in 1959, “I was thinking about resistance and activism and these consequential times in our racial and social change history,” she said. “These periods are different, yet we are going through the same thing over and over again. When we look at where we are in America—new presidential administration, new Congress—marginalized groups now are grappling with how to resist. Looking back at how our ancestors did generations back can be instructive for how we respond today.”
Johnson adds, “I chose to write fiction because I want to address these issues of race, class, resistance, family dynamics, the power of legacy, and the pursuit of the American dream. I don’t want anyone to feel preached to or that I’m giving them tips for how to address racism in America or classism in America. But I’ve found that fiction can be much more powerful because people can connect with the themes and concepts more through character and story.”
Read more in Take The Lead on Black women in journalism & media
8. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, an associate professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University, explores the legacy of a Black woman labor leader in Nannie Helen Burroughs: A Tower of Strength in the Labor World, recently published. Burroughs founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909. Cunningham says, “Burroughs showed us how everyday movement-building work can restore the rights that we’re losing—rights that are fundamental to our everyday lives. Burroughs engaged in daily and unglamorous organizing work that would not have resulted in several hundred likes on TikTok and Instagram, but her efforts were critical to establishing a foundation for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
9. Jeanne Porter King, author of the 2023 book, Leading Well: A Black Woman’s Guide to Wholistic, Barrier-Breaking Leadership, writes, “Patriarchy in every sphere of influence has created a narrative about women’s leadership that positions women, especially Black women, as outsiders. What is needed is an approach to leadership that challenges and changes that narrative while giving Black women tools to strengthen leadership within our whole selves.“
10. Gabrielle Union, award-winning actress, producer, author, and entrepreneur, launched the haircare product line, Flawless; a plus size clothing line, Love & Blessings; a wine called Vanilla Puddin; a line of watches through Invicta Watch Group; and an allergen-friendly school-safe snack line, Bitsy, that she co-founded.
Read more in Take The Lead on Gabrielle Union
“I wish I had one big story and one tale of triumph, but it’s daily, suffering daily indignities to your very being,” says Union, who has been consistently starring in television shows since 1993 and 45 films since 1999, as well as music videos. “This makes up my advocacy and struggle in the business since day 1. “ She adds, “My boldness has expanded. It’s important to differentiate between being nice—lying on the ground and saying, ‘Please run all over me,’ and being kind and considerate, which is basic human decency.”
“It’s important to #differentiate between being #nice—lying on the ground and saying, ‘Please run all over me,’ and being #kind and #considerate, which is #basichumandecency. -@itsgabrielleu”
