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Community Spotlight: Araceli Cruz-Marks
I believe in BlackFemaleProject because I have a Black daughter, and Black women are held to a completely different standard as soon as they walk into the room.
Community Spotlight: Kamika Dunlap
I have more than 20 years of experience as a leader specializing in strategic communications, storytelling, marketing, government affairs, public policy, and journalism.
Community Spotlights: Faye Carol
Because there aren’t a hell of a lot of people in organizations who are really practicing that and holding up Black women and actually supporting us in the many professions that we are in. That is a lot of the reason why we can exist – because of organizations like BlackFemaleProject.
Community Spotlight: Dr. Barbara Stroud
Black women, in addition to all other women of color, we need spaces where we see other Black women thriving because that is so rare to see. We tend to internalize the white supremacy narrative that we are less than or we can’t succeed. And even when we do succeed, we are told that we are an anomaly.
Community Spotlight: Robin McBride
One of the most important things we can do as business women, no matter what stage we are at in our business, is to uplift each other and become a resource for each other.
Community Spotlight: Audrey Cormier
I believe in the mission because of the part that talks about your ability to self-define success. Black women in corporate America have achieved some successes, but clearly there are many more things companies can do to create opportunities for Black women and women of color.
Community Spotlight: Dr. Linda stewart
It’s nice to be connected with other Black women who are in business and who are achieving their goals and their dreams and to be able to support each other without any judgment.
Community Spotlight: Kathryn Bradley
I believe in it because the healing and space that we need to process and simply spaces to be just don't exist for Black women and particularly not in our traditional work spaces, so BlackFemaleProject offers that space.
Community Spotlights: Regina Jackson
As a Black woman, I think it’s exceptionally important to hold space for us and our journeys. All too often, we are given the toughest jobs and not affirmed in our success.
Community Spotlight: Dr. Cathia Walters
BlackFemaleProject highlights who we are as a people and the variations that exist among us. To be able to see that and have it reflected not just to me but also to my kids and my grandkids—it’s just powerful beyond measure.
Community Spotlight: Alicia Meeks-Hunter
I believe in the mission because it’s true, and it encompasses a space for everybody. I think for me personally there have been moments in meetings where I don't feel comfortable speaking up, but I know that what other people are speaking into the space is true and resonates with me.
Community Spotlight: dana e. fitchett
The last phrase of our mission–self-defined success–is everything to me. Regardless of the political context or contemporary views, what matters most at the end of the day is self-determination, especially for Black women.
Community Spotlight: Sheila E. Lewis
Having stepped out of corporate America and created my own path with my two companies for the past 25 years afforded me the chance to look at things very differently. And my sense about being a Black female business owner changed when I had a company where I had employees.
Community Spotlights: Yvonne Williams-Castellanos
Every day Black women are asked to exploit ourselves for the benefit of others—to make slaves of ourselves and completely deny ourselves for the benefit of other people. And BlackFemaleProject firmly rejects this notion and says, “No, we’re not going to do that. We are going to uplift ourselves and affirm ourselves and our humanity for our own happiness and joy.”
Community Spotlight: Sandra Varner
I think the mission is reflective of who we are as Black women in the work space and every other space that we occupy. It’s central to our identity, our work, and our collective mission of being supportive of each other while fostering positive, uplifting, beneficial environments where we all thrive.
Community Spotlights: Ellie Tumbuan
There’s the reality of justice—that Black women deserve that. It’s also about understanding that, when Black women win, everybody wins. Period. Because of the known and unknown histories of what Black women have gone through in the workplace, the healing, the recognition, and the valuing of Black women need to not just be reconciled but prioritized.
Community Spotlight: Afiya Shani Williams
I believe in the mission because I am a Black professional woman with my own unique experience. I know we need more spaces in this world that do just this. I believe in the mission because of the Black women that I know who have called in what they need in terms of either support or awareness.
Community Spotlight: Debrah Giles
My industry is philanthropy, and my expertise is youth development and cultural arts. I’m a program director at East Bay Community Foundation, where I lead our strategy around racial justice and equity, centering cultural arts.
Community Spotlight: Vaneese Johnson
Vaneese Johnson, The Boldness Coach™, is a certified executive coach, brand strategist, and award-winning small business consultant with more than 25 years of experience.
Community Spotlight: Olivia Christian
Olivia Christian has been working as a brand strategist for more than 15 years. Her clients include global brands like Google, Visa, and Amazon as well as nonprofit organizations providing life-advancing support to women, children, and vulnerable communities throughout the US.