Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is a Haitian American businesswoman, attorney, and politician, who currently serves as the U.S. Representative from the state of Florida’s 20th congressional district. She was born on January 25, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York. Her stepfather, Dr. Gabriel Smith, and her mother, Marie … Read MoreSheila Cherfilus-McCormick (1979- )
Mamphela Ramphele is a South African political leader and physician known for her anti-apartheid activism. Ramphele was born on December 28, 1947, in Uitkyk, located in North West province of South Africa, but spent her childhood in Kranspoort, Limpopo province. In 1962, she attended Bethesda … Read MoreMamphela Ramphele (1947- )
Margaret Abner Dixon, the first African American president of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), was born in Columbia, South Carolina, in August 8, 1923. She was reared by an aunt, Emily Clark Metz, and her grandfather, Mantle Birt Williams, as both parents died … Read MoreMargaret Abner Dixon (1923-2011)
African investment banker Tidjane Thiam who was co-CEO of Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, was born one of seven children into a politically prominent family in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) on July 29, 1962. His father, Amadou Anna Thiam, was a journalist and … Read MoreTidjane Thiam (1962- )
Barbara Ann Rowan was the first Black woman to become a prosecutor in the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Born on September 6, 1938, in Upper Manhattan, New York, she was the only child of Norman B. Rowan, … Read MoreBarbara Ann Rowan (1938-2020)
NASA scientist Hildreth “Hal” Walker, Jr. is most known for leading the team that used a laser to measure the distance between the earth and the moon for NASA during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. After astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set up … Read MoreHildreth “Hal” Walker, Jr. (1933- )
Danita Johnson is a business executive affiliated with the WNBA, NBA, and NBA G leagues. In December 2020, Johnson was appointed as the third woman and the first Black person to serve as a Major League Soccer (MLS) team president of business operations, for the … Read MoreDanita Johnson (1984- )
United Airlines executive Brett Jonah Hart was born on March 22, 1969 and raised in the small town of Cassopolis, Michigan where his parents were both self-employed at their own companies. In his youth, he spent his summers working on construction sites with his contractor … Read MoreBrett Jonah Hart (1969- )
William Murrell is an entrepreneur and computer scientist who started Boston’s largest Black-owned computer store and pioneered Black-themed websites in the 1990s. William Murrell was born in Harlem, New York in 1955, and at the age of six moved with his mother to Gastonia, North … Read MoreWilliam Murrell (1955- )
Barry Cooper is a journalist, technology entrepreneur, and CEO who founded BlackVoices.com, a groundbreaking website in the early days of the Internet. Cooper graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He began working as a sportswriter for the Orlando Sentinel in 1993. Cooper … Read MoreBarry Cooper (1956- )
