Notable Black Business Leaders

This 65 year old billionaire was raised by a single mom in public housing, before becoming the first ever Black female Fortune 500 CEO. And you might have never heard of her. Meet Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox. Born in New York City to a single immigrant mother from Panama, Ursula spent her earliest years in public housing. Ursula recalled her mother's words: “This is where you’re going to grow up, but this is not what defines you.”  Quickly, Ursula excelled in engineering from a young age and went on to attend the New York University - Polytechnic School of Engineering. In 1980, Ursula went on to take an internship at Xerox. Ursula's internship would not only give her experience, but also fund her Master's Degree at Columbia University. At the time, Xerox was one of the only companies in the world to provide an internship program for underrepresented groups in STEM. Ursula went on to spend the decade working in various roles at the company, until another big opportunity presented itself: she was offered a role of executive assistant to corporate leadership. By 1991, Ursula became executive assistant to the CEO. But she had her sights set high... and she used her time under executive leadership to make her mark. While assistants at Xerox had traditionally been expected to be quiet in meetings, Ursula defied the norm. She shared her opinions. Loudly. And the opinions got her noticed. By 1999, Ursula made Vice President, before becoming SVP under then-CEO, Anne Mulcahy. At the time, Anne was one of very few women to ever become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And Anne knew that Ursula could become her successor one day. So, Anne brought Ursula's name to the Board as their future CEO. Meanwhile, Ursula took her role and ran with it, reinventing Xerox's industry position from a dinosaur to an innovator of 30-40 new products per year. By 2007, Ursula became President. By 2009, Ursula succeeded Anne as CEO. Ursula would go on to lead Xerox until 2017 -- first, as CEO, then as Chairwoman. She also became a self-made billionaire in the meantime! Today, Ursula holds a variety of board roles, including American Express, ExxonMobil, & Nestlé. There are so many lessons to learn from Ursula's story. First, she is a living testament to the value of #DEI, long before most companies were even thinking about it. Second, Ursula's journey shows the crucial role of sisterhood in executive leadership and the power of women championing other women. Lastly, Ursula refused to sit quiet, like she was expected to do. She shows why it is important for women to make their voices heard. Unsurprisingly, Ursula is ranked as one of the Most Powerful Women in the World by Fortune. Yet, this post may be the first time you've ever heard of her. That's why I'm going to be sharing the stories of more women execs and founders like Ursula every Wednesday for #WomenFounderWednesday. Subscribe for more. 🔔 #womeninbusiness #womenempoweringwomen

Innovation is alive in Nigeria, and I’ve been reflecting on entrepreneurs who show what it truly looks like in action. Adewale Tinubu turned a risky start in oil trading into Oando Plc, one of Africa’s largest indigenous energy firms. From a $1.8B ConocoPhillips acquisition, making Oando the first indigenous oil and gas company to acquire an IOC's assets, to new clean energy ventures, his story is resilience and bold strategy in motion. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji represents the new wave of tech leaders. He co-founded Andela, built Flutterwave into a unicorn, and now invests in African startups through Future Africa, proving that persistence and vision can open doors far beyond borders. Bode Roberts 🇳🇬, CEO at Dataleum, has shown me firsthand how innovation works in practice. With no external funding, he has built Dataleum into a leading tech training and consulting company, turning ideas into solutions. Every day, I see how he drives concepts to reality so Nigerian talent can compete globally. Tosin Eniolorunda built Moniepoint Group into a platform powering millions of small businesses, reshaping how merchants handle payments across Nigeria. His vision has turned Moniepoint into a lifeline for everyday businesses, proving that financial innovation can drive real economic growth. Tara Fela-Durotoye created an entire beauty industry with House of Tara International, pioneering the bridal make up profession in Nigeria. She also trained and empowered thousands of women in entrepreneurship by establishing the first makeup school in the country. Mo Abudu put African storytelling on the global stage through EbonyLife. From hit movies to Netflix originals, she has given African creatives a platform to shine worldwide. Pivoting seamlessly from human resources to Entertainment, she has shown that anything is possible with an innovative mindset. Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R, and a group of investors took over Crystal Bank (later renamed Standard Trust Bank) and turned around its fortunes. His decision to merge Standard Trust Bank with UBA was a bold act of innovation that reshaped African banking. Adenike Ogunlesi launched Ruff ’n’ Tumble after noticing the gap in children’s clothing. From car-boot sales to a leading fashion brand, she proved Nigerian-made products can meet international standards while creating jobs. Mike Adenuga transformed telecom with Globacom, introducing per-second billing and free SIM cards. His journey from humble beginnings to building oil and telecom giants shows persistence and innovative solutions in action. These entrepreneurs remind me that innovation is about courage, execution, and solving real problems. Who inspires you most from this list?

She quit Silicon Valley after Mike Brown was killed to give Black millennials a platform. VCs told her to "call back later", despite having 1M monthly visitors. She built it anyway and now 40,000 people show up annually and Fortune 500 companies pay to attend AFROTECH. Welcome back to the Audacity Files, where I'm breaking down the stories of successful and game-changing entrepreneurs. This is Morgan DeBaun, founder and CEO of Blavity Inc. In 2014, she was 24, working as a product manager at Intuit in Silicon Valley, which many would consider a "dream job". Then Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri. Her hometown of St. Louis was in turmoil. The people doing the actual work on the ground had no voice. Morgan realized: there was no digital platform where Black millennials could tell their own stories. Two months later, she quit her job and co-founded Blavity Inc., a media company by and for young Black Americans. She ate boiled eggs and oatmeal to save every penny for the business. Within a year, Blavity hit 1 million monthly visitors. Morgan went out to raise funding. She had proof. A million people showing up every month. VCs kept saying: "This is great, but call us in six months." Over and over. "We'll give you advice." Morgan's response: I don't need advice. I need a check. She regrouped, then targeted social impact investors who cared about impact, not just returns. By 25, Morgan became one of the few Black women founders to raise over $1 million. By 2016, Morgan and co-founder Jeff Nelson launched AfroTech. They planned for 400 attendees. 650 people showed up. For three years, they did everything themselves: cold outreach, negotiating with venues 10x their budget, convincing Fortune 500 companies this wasn't diversity theater. By 2019: 10,000 attendees. By 2023: 25,000 attendees. This year: 40,000+ attendees. Microsoft. Amazon. Meta. Google. Nvidia. Morgan didn't just create a conference. She created the ecosystem institutional tech refused to build. She's raised over $12 million, sits on Fortune 500 boards, and released her book Rewrite Your Rules in 2024. She had prestige. Washington University. Intuit. She chose purpose anyway. Here's what this teaches us: 1️⃣ Proof doesn't guarantee funding, belief does. Morgan had 1 million monthly visitors and VCs still said "not yet." When she found investors who cared about impact, the money followed. 2️⃣ When they say "the market's too small," they mean "we don't care about that market." Silicon Valley didn't see Black millennials as viable. Now Blavity reaches 100M+ monthly and Fortune 500 companies pay six figures to access it. 3️⃣ The "good job" might be keeping you from your greatest work. Morgan walked away at 24 to build something that didn't exist, now she's a CEO, board advisor, and bestselling author. If you're in a "good job" but questioning whether this is it, you're not broken. You're Morgan in 2014. Follow for more proof that audacity beats permission.

From Cote D'Ivoire to global CEO of PwC, Mohamed Kande's journey will be an inspiration to many. "I am a Black man. I am an immigrant. I speak English with a French accent. And my name is Mohamed. Given these factors, success — or even a presence — in corporate America was far from preordained, to say the least." I worked with PwC in New Delhi two decades back. I don't think any of us could have imagined a CEO from the global south. Over time we saw Rajat Gupta become the Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company and Punit Renjen at Deloitte. Mohamed Kande is the first ever black CEO of PwC and his journey, compassion and wisdom are remarkable. He grew up in Côte d'Ivoire, the third of eight children in a family of both Catholic and Muslim faiths. At the age of 16, he moved to France for school on his own, knowing no one. "France in the 1980s was not always an inclusive place, with encounters with far-right extremists and random ID checks for Black and Brown people." He later moved to Montreal and onwards to Chicago, having to "reinvent" himself several times. "This marked another period of adjustment, this time in a hard-nosed, heaving Midwestern city. I spoke English, but not well: I took extra-time re-reading emails to make sure I understood what was happening. In meetings, I comprehended about half of what was being said. One day during lunch, an executive at a Fortune 500 client confided in me: I was the first Black person she'd ever had a conversation with. I didn't know how to respond, but I guess I was not too shocked to hear this. Often, I had to work hard to be included because I was different. I have felt slight but sharp jabs about my accent and my name, accompanied by quieter, larger unspokens about my skin color. The more I thought about that moment, the more I realized that what seemed like a hindrance, might actually be an opportunity. Getting into the room was one obstacle, but once there, I could contribute more meaningfully because of my differences. I worked for a global firm, which took me all over the world. In order to best help our clients and work with teams in other parts of the world, you must be able to relate to them, to understand their culture, to put yourself in their shoes. These are all things I had to do time and time again as I adapted to new environments as a minority almost everywhere I have worked and lived since I was 16. We all must do better. 2020 has changed things — we can no longer turn a blind eye toward systemic discrimination. We all need to commit to strive to be inclusive: Inclusion is a must! We live in polarized times. It's often not fashionable to listen to or consider other opinions -- and we can have prejudices about people we've never met. If we had a bit more perspective and gave people the benefit of the doubt, we can create more common ground. We have much work to do, myself included. I hope sharing my story can contribute to further progress." Godspeed!

SPOTLIGHT ON EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP: FREDERICK DOUGLAS PATTERSON Before Henry Ford ever flooded the country with Model Ts, a Black man from Greenfield, Ohio was building high-quality automobiles by hand; at a time when Jim Crow laws made simply walking through the front door of a bank nearly impossible for a Black man. His name was Frederick Douglas Patterson, and in 1915, he became the first African American to manufacture automobiles. His company, C.R. Patterson & Sons, started with horse-drawn carriages and transitioned into automobiles with the Patterson-Greenfield car; a sleek, reliable, hand-assembled vehicle that could go toe-to-toe with anything Ford was producing at the time. But America wasn’t ready to let a Black man into the driver’s seat of capitalism. Despite his brilliance, craft, and a fully functioning auto assembly line, Patterson could never secure the funding to scale. Banks refused him. Distributors wouldn’t carry his vehicles. The American auto industry shut him out; not because of the quality of his product, but because of the color of his skin. So he pivoted. Like so many Black pioneers who weren’t allowed to dominate, he survived by innovating. Patterson shifted his focus to building buses and trucks, winning contracts from school districts and municipalities across the Midwest. He didn’t just build vehicles; he built jobs, pride, and a vision for Black self-determination in an age of white control. This is not a footnote in history. This is a chapter that was buried. Frederick D. Patterson didn’t invent the car. But he broke barriers as the first Black auto manufacturer in America; and his legacy lives on as a testament to what Black innovation could have achieved if given the same access, capital, and exposure as his white contemporaries. Remember his name. “Frederick Douglas Patterson”

She started as a nurse. Ended up handing me a 110X return. Her name was Slivy Edmonds. You've never heard of her. Like the NASA mathematicians from Hidden Figures, she changed an entire industry while remaining invisible. She asked Wharton what it would take to get in. So, she took courses at Temple. Got accepted to both Columbia and Wharton. Moved into finance at Equitable, one of the largest insurance companies in America. In the late 1980s, she was at Equitable analyzing a deal: Air Atlanta, a commercial airline started by a 30-year-old Black entrepreneur. The analysis was solid. Equitable invested. Then Slivy quit Equitable to join as CFO. When the airline later went bankrupt, not from execution failures, but Wall Street reneging on financing promises, most people would have retreated. Slivy did the opposite. She partnered with Chester Davenport to co-found Georgetown Partners, one of the earliest Black-managed private equity funds. Why would anyone back them? Because Drexel Burnham, the Wall Street powerhouse that funded Ted Turner and CNN, had done a study. Their research concluded that the next wave of transformative founders would be people of color. So they gave Slivy and Chester roughly $10 million to prove it. Here's what Slivy did: Found EnviroTest, a sleepy vehicle emissions testing division inside United Technologies. Bought it at $30 million in annual revenues. One year later: acquired their largest competitor. Another $35 million in revenues. By year two: $100 million in revenues. Eighteen months after that: IPO. My firm, UNC Ventures, had invested at $0.14 per share. The company went public at $14 per share. That's a 100X return. From a woman who left Wall Street to join a failing airline. Who rebuilt after bankruptcy. Who executed with precision that amazed everyone around her. Slivy never sought recognition. Never built a personal brand. Never wrote the book or did the speaking circuit. She just executed. Quietly. Brilliantly. Here's what backing Slivy taught me: The best opportunities hide in unconventional backgrounds. Nurse to Wharton to Wall Street to failing airline to 100X PE exit, that's not a red flag. That's proof of adaptability. Capital efficiency beats capital abundance. Slivy and Chester built a $100 million revenue company with $10 million to deploy. They didn't need unlimited resources. They needed clarity and execution. Being underestimated is a competitive advantage. While everyone else chased obvious opportunities, Slivy was building in plain sight. Thirty years later, I'm raising Fund II with the same conviction Drexel Burnham had in 1987: The next generation of exceptional founders will be overlooked by traditional capital. The data proved it then. The returns proved it then. Slivy Edmonds proved it. Why did we forget?

This woman has served as CEO of Sam’s Club, COO of Starbucks, and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Rosalind Brewer comes from Detroit. She’s the daughter of GM assembly line workers. The youngest of five kids. And the first in her family to have gone to college. She studied chemistry at Spelman and landed her first job in a lab at Kimberly-Clark. She stayed there for 22 years, moving out of research and into executive leadership. By the time she left, she was President of the $1B+ Global Nonwovens Division. But her real rise started at Walmart. She joined in 2006. By 2012, she became President and CEO of Sam’s Club. Five years later, she joined Starbucks as COO and Group President. She was the first woman to hold the role. She ran operations across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. When two Black men were wrongfully arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks, Roz didn’t deflect or deny. She led the decision to close 8,000 stores for a full day of racial bias training. Then, in 2021, Walgreens called. They asked her to take the CEO role. Right in the middle of the pandemic. She accepted. That appointment made her the only Black woman CEO of an S&P 500 company. At Walgreens, she had 325,000 employees under her leadership. She focused on healthcare access, especially in underserved communities, and started reshaping the company’s strategy for a post-COVID world. But Wall Street wasn’t patient. The stock dropped 47% during her tenure. So she stepped down in 2023 to return to Spelman as Interim President. She also serves on boards ranging from VillageMD to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 💡 In 2025, I’m sharing 365 stories of women leaders in 365 days. Follow Justine Juillard for daily #femalefounders spotlights.

Madame CJ Walker was not the first self-made black Female Millionaire! Day 1: Many people know about Madam C.J. Walker, but fewer know about Annie Turnbo Malone, the pioneering Black entrepreneur who built a multimillion-dollar beauty empire before Walker. Born in 1869, Malone was a chemist and businesswoman who developed "Wonderful Hair Grower," a scalp treatment for Black women’s hair. She built Poro College in 1918, a massive beauty school and business training center in St. Louis, employing thousands of Black women and creating economic opportunities at a time when options were limited. In 1918, she established Poro College, a cosmetology school and center. The building included a manufacturing plant, a retail store where Poro products were sold, business offices, a 500-seat auditorium, dining and meeting rooms, a roof garden, dormitory, gymnasium, bakery, and chapel. It served the African-American community as a center for religious and social functions. The college's curriculum addressed the whole student; students were coached on personal style for work: on walking, talking, and a style of dress designed to maintain a solid persona. Poro College employed nearly 200 people in St. Louis. Through its school and franchise businesses, the college created jobs for almost 75,000 women in North and South America, Africa and the Philippines Malone’s innovative marketing and business strategies laid the foundation for Black women in business. Though Madam C.J. Walker worked for Malone before launching her own company, Malone’s legacy remains underrecognized despite her groundbreaking contributions. Why It Matters: Annie Turnbo Malone demonstrated excellence in business, philanthropy, and community uplift, setting the stage for future entrepreneurs. She donated millions to HBCUs, orphanages, and charities, leaving an indelible mark on History. 🤔 Had you heard of Annie Turnbo Malone before? Let’s celebrate the innovators that history often forgets! #BlackHistory #WomenInTech #StLouis

He Built America's First Black Airline. They Took It. In 1969, Warren Hervey Wheeler founded Wheeler Airlines—the first FAA-certified Black-owned commercial airline in U.S. history. Born in Durham, North Carolina in 1943, Wheeler became Piedmont Airlines' first Black pilot in 1966, flying Boeing 737s when most airlines refused to hire Black pilots. Frustrated by systemic racism, he built his own solution. Wheeler Airlines operated five Beechcraft 99 aircraft on routes connecting Raleigh to New York and Charlotte to Atlantic City. But his real genius was the training pipeline: he created a flight school that trained pilots to 2,000 hours, promoted them to captain, then watched as major airlines like Delta, United, and American hired his graduates. Wheeler cracked the door to aviation for an entire generation of Black pilots. Yet in 1991, after 22 years of operation, Wheeler Airlines closed. Not because of failure, but because airline deregulation allowed bigger carriers to undercut his routes and starve him out financially. The industry took everything he built. Every Black pilot flying today stands on Warren Wheeler's shoulders. His name should be taught in every aviation history class. #blackhistorymonth100thanniversary #buildingonblacklegacy #entrepreneur #blackbrilliance

This Nigerian investor bought a bankrupt govt bank in the 90’s. Turned it around and sold it for $250 million in 2005. And now manages his family office with  $600+  million in assets. Meet, Hakeem Belo-Osagie The Teacher. Hakeem is teaching the next generation of business leaders. Passing down wisdom from his 40-year business career. Born in Nigeria. He moved to the UK at 3. When his parents moved there for further education. At that tender age. He had his 1st taste of racism. Some of the students in his class Didn’t want to walk with him to/from school. As a result, he grew up shy & bookish. And was nicknamed Mr. Encyclopedia. They moved back to Nigeria when he was 8. Where he went to primary & secondary school. He initially wanted to be a lawyer.  But that changed to working for the government.  Inspired by Nigerian public servants of the day. He left Nigeria at 16 for Wales. Where he did his last years of high school. At UWC Atlantic College He then went on to University of Oxford.  To study PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) In his quest to be a public servant. Then University of Cambridge To study law. As if that were not enough. He joined Harvard Business School To do an M.B.A And was the only African out of 800 students in his class. Upon graduation. He received 47 rejections out of his 50 job applications. And decided to move back to Nigeria.  To work for the govt.  Becoming the lowest-paid member of the 1980 Harvard MBA class. He started as a Special Assistant. To the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy. Then later Special Assistant to the Minister of Petroleum and Energy But after a lot of changes in govt. He left to start CTIL in 1986.  An energy consulting firm. CTIL was a great success. And shortly after he started KMC, a finance house.  Which failed miserably. This failure was instructive. And HBO picked himself up. To start FSDH Group in 1992. A financial services firm that was a success. In  1994.  With Nigeria privatizing its govt-owned banks. He sensed an opportunity. Buying 51% of UBA Group from the govt for $15M. After the acquisition. He realized the bank was bankrupt. So he set out to turn around the bank. Cutting down bad debts. Laying off staff and improving operations. He sold his UBA stake for $250M in 2005. In 2012, HBO set up Metis Capital Partners. A family office. To focus on investing and philanthropy. And today, Metis Capital Partners is a titan.  With  📈 Portfolio of  20+ companies across Africa. 💰Investments of $600+ million into African businesses Metis is invested in Andela, Jabi Lake Properties and more. HBO sits on the board of The Brookings Institution , Council on Foreign Relations He is a Senior lecturer at Harvard Business School & 1 of the top sponsors of African scholarships. What are your thoughts on HBO’s story? Let me know in the comments. 👇 Join my newsletter for more stories on business and investing. https://lnkd.in/d-mDKYRT