10 Inspiring and Influential Black Women

Black History Month has come to an end as we step into Women’s International Month in March. We wanted to highlight ten inspiring black women from the past and the present. These women have shaped their industries, inspired those around them, and created new opportunities for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Tina Wells

Tina Wells is the CEO and founder of Buzz Marketing Group (which she launched as a teen).

Wells is also an author and has launched TinaWells.com, which focuses on helping women of color launch, grow, and lead their own companies.

Her most recent focus is helping women find work-life harmony.

2. Morgan DeBaun

CEO and founder of the non-profit organization Blavity, which is a community for young multicultural creators to connect, express themselves, and be heard. Through Blavity, Morgan aims to provide entrepreneurial fellowship programs featuring grants, education & mentorships. She also founded business advisory WorkSmart, also aimed to help black entrepreneurs and small business owners.

3. Madam C.J. Walker

Suffering from a scalp disorder, Walker was motivated to find a product to alleviate her symptoms. This eventually led her to create a hair pomade specifically for black women. Her innovation turned into a million-dollar business. Even more inspiring, she founded hair-culture colleges through black institutions and taught women the ropes of business.

Outside of the beauty industry, Walker became renowned, she gave back to the Black community through donations, sponsorships, and political activism. Her friends and associates included Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. During WWI, she was a leader in the Circle For Negro War Relief, helping to create a training camp for Black army officers.

She was also a member of the NAACP and pledged $5,000 (almost $90K today) to the organization before her death in 1919.

4. Claudette Colvin

At just 15 years old, she was the first to sit at the front of the bus before Rosa Parks, fueling the Montgomery bus boycott.

She, along with a few others, would help end segregation in public transportation not just in Alabama, but eventually all across the United States after the Supreme Court affirmed the ruling.

5. Bozoma St. John

Bozoma Saint John was the chief marketing officer (CMO) at Netflix, making her the first Black person to hold this C-suite title. Before Netflix, she was the CMO at the talent agency Endeavor and the chief brand officer at Uber.

Saint John was also the host of the podcast ‘Back To Biz with Katie and Boz’, focusing on how businesses can reopen after the pandemic, as well as discussing systemic racism and social justice reform.

She helped launch #ShareTheMicNow, where 52 Black women took over 52 white women’s Instagrams with large followings.

In May of 2022, Saint John became part of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame.

6. Cayenne Doroshow

Dubbed ‘A Godmother of the Black Trans Lives Matter Movement’ by GQ, Ceyenne Doroshow is the founder and executive director for Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society.

Through her activism and work, she has raised more than $1M to help Black trans people have stable housing.

7. Marah Lidey

Co-founder and co-CEO of Shine, a mental health and wellness app dedicated to providing an inclusive mental health experience for the BIPOC community. Marah was the first in her family to go to college and made it her mission to go after whatever she set her mind to. She aims to help women entrepreneurs especially deal with confidence in the work place. Shine offers a resource for all women, especially entrepreneurs to help women boost their confidence.

8. Jacqueline Woods

Jacqueline Woods is Teradata’s CMO and a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team.

Teradata is a software company that provides cloud database and analytics-related software, products, and services.

Woods helps and has led B2Bs to leverage marketing approaches that utilize data and insights to accelerate business outcomes.

She started working with Verizon, then worked her way up working for businesses such as Oracle, IBM, and Nielsen.

9. Miko Branch

Co-founder and CEO of haircare line Miss Jessie’s, Miko opened her first salon with her sister in 1997 prior to launching their own curly hair product line. After her sister’s untimely passing, Miko continued their business venture to provide hair products for all curl types. You can find her line at Target and on their website missjessies.com.

10. Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon

These two college friends launched GirlTrek, a non-profit for Black women and girls in the US, with a mission to “pioneer a health movement for African American women and girls grounded in civil rights history and principles through walking campaigns, community leadership, and health advocacy.” In 2022, they launched Black History Bootcamp, a series of walking meditations to honor Black women freedom fighters.

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