Rising To The Top: Founder, CEO on Supporting All WOC To Succeed

Ayesha Whyte is the founder and CEO of Ellevator.

You might call it Ellevator’s elevator speech.

Ayesha Whyte, founder and CEO of Ellevator, a private membership organization designed to enhance the skills and opportunities for women of color, says, “We don’t want to look back and see a gap because no one helped move women along.”

“@Ajwhyte_esq is founder and CEO of Ellevator, a private membership organization designed to enhance the skills and opportunities for #womenofcolor. #blackwomenlead”

Since its launch last month, Whyte says she wants members to know, “There is a place for you if your heart is in nonprofit or corporate. We wish we would have had something like this.“

Co-funded by Whyte with Lauren Maillian, an advisor and entrepreneur, Ellevator provides content for a goal of 200 Black, Latina, Asian, Indigenous and Middle Eastern women.    

This comes at a time when DEI efforts and programs funding Black women are under scrutiny and attack.

“This comes at a time when #DEI efforts and #programs funding Black women are under scrutiny and attack. ”

According to ABC News, “A grant program for businesses run by Black women was temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court in a case epitomizing the escalating battle over corporate diversity policies.” The Georgia decision “temporarily prevents the Fearless Fund from running the Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 to businesses that are at least 51% owned by Black women, among other requirements.”

While networking is key, it alone is not enough.

“We don’t want another networking organization,” Whyte says. “We want to bring together women of color and provide them educational content.”

““We don’t want another networking organization,” @Ajwhyte_esq says. “We want to bring together #womenofcolor and provide them educational content.””

That includes a four-part series on corporate finance and courses in AI, executive presence, emotional intelligence, marketing yourself and more.  

Read more in Take The Lead on inequalities for AANHPI women

“We are transparent,” says Whyte. “For $3,500 a year, you get 12 months of courses live and on demand. Instructors are available for 90 days and there will be quarterly in-person events.”

She adds, “I want them to get skills they can take anywhere and the confidence they can take any job they want to do.”

Research shows Black women face many obstacles in starting and running their businesses.  

 Blaze Group’s 2023 “State of Black Women-owned Businesses Report shows, “Most Black women entrepreneurs also are mothers, with approximately 73% balancing multiple roles to secure their households' financial stability,” according to BizJournals.

“Ellevator includes a four-part series on corporate #finance and courses in AI, executive presence, emotional intelligence, #marketing yourself and more. ”

“Nearly two-thirds of Black women entrepreneurs report never having navigated the complexities of business closures, shedding light on the fact that many are encountering lessons on business viability for the very first time,” the report shows.

“Black women entrepreneurs are highly susceptible to risk, with just 23% having business insurance and as few as 8% having dedicated legal support. Bootstrapping remains the most common source of capital for Black women-owned businesses, with 95% relying on personal savings and 36% using personal credit cards. Access to other sources of capital, such as grants (4%), crowdfunding (4%), loans (3%) and investor backing (2%), remains limited,” BizJournals reports.

This is motivation for Whyte, who did not always intend to be a founder and entrepreneur. Growing up in Chicago, Whyte says, “From a very young age I wanted to be an attorney, from watching ‘Perry Mason.’”

Read more in Take the Lead on DEI initiatives

A graduate of Chicago Public Schools, Whyte says, “My first plane ride was going to University of Miami.” It was not for a visit, but to begin classes. And she went alone.

After two years she transferred to the University of Florida, graduating in 1999 with degrees in political science and business, and the intention of going to law school. She moved home to help out her mother for one year after her grandfather died, working at a law firm. She attended Howard University for law school and graduated in 2003.  

She was married at the time, and her husband was in medical school with a residency first at Columbia University in New York, then at Dartmouth. They also had two daughters, now 18 and 15.

Working for a large global firm for 70-80 hours a week, as her husband was also working long hours, she decided she needed to be in-house counsel. She started at Aerotek, and she says, “My career took off in internal investigations.” She went to work for Walt Disney Co. staying from 2015 to 2017.

In 2017, she moved back to Washington, D.C. as director of investigations for WeWork from 2017-2019.

“It was my foray into what was considered the tech industry, and WeWork had a $47 billion valuation when I left. “ She adds, “It was a rude awakening how different people are treated differently.” Whyte then sued WeWork for discrimination, and the suit was amicably resolved.

“Women of color face the steepest drop-off in representation from entry-level to C-suite positions," according to LeanIn.org and McKinsey's Women in the Workplace study.

Read more in Take The Lead on hiring diverse candidates

“Women and women of color continue to face bias that interferes with the perception of their performance and capabilities,” Axios reports. "Women are often hired and promoted based on past accomplishments, while men can be hired and promoted based on future potential. And because entry-level workers have short track records, this performance bias may especially disadvantage entry-level women — leading to a broken rung on the career ladder.”

Whyte saw this happen in real time as she read all the employee reports on compensation and promotion.

“@Ajwhyte_esq saw bias against #womenofcolor happen in real time as she read all the employee reports on compensation and promotion.”

“It was one of those ‘aha’ moments,” Whyte says.

In 2020 as the pandemic started, Whyte became chief human resources officer of SEIU in 2020, representing 1.9 million workers, including many healthcare workers.

It was at that time that a colleague asked her if she ever thought about going out on her own. And it was clear it was time to do that.  

“All points of my career have come together,” says Whyte.  

With her co-founder Maillian, Whyte says, “We talked about how in the middle of our careers, we could have used real, tangible pieces of information.” She adds, “People need to understand who you are and what your value is. We are doing this out of passion.”

“With her co-founder @LaurenMaillian, @Ajwhyte_esq says, “We talked about how in the middle of our careers, we could have used real, tangible pieces of information.” #careergrowth”

Leadership Takeaway of The Week:

“People need to understand who you are and what your value is.”

Ayesha Whyte, founder and CEO of Ellevator