most powerful - The Charlotte Chapter of The Links, Inc.

by Angela Lindsay Hilst
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Pride Magazine
turns the spotlight
on leaders who
make a difference
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When you think of powerful African-American women, names like Oprah
Winfrey, Cathy Hughes and Michelle Obama might immediately jump into your
head. While these household names are recognizable on a national, even global,
scale, we are surrounded by women who are making a difference here in our own
corner of the universe.
For this year’s Pride Women’s Issue, we decided to spotlight some of the
African-American women who are having the greatest impact on the Charlotte
community. Whether they have ascended to the pinnacle of their professional
careers or are pounding the pavement at the grassroots level to effect positive
change, we want to recognize them for their efforts.
To assist us in formulating this list, we asked members of our community to
help with the selections. While there are many African-American women in our
community who are qualified for this recognition, time and space constraints
only allow us to present some of them to you in this issue. These women are
smart and successful, independent and influential. As we enter this new decade,
Pride Magazine is proud to present 51 of Charlotte’s Powerful African-American
Women (in alphabetical order). For more information on these 51 women, visit
our Web site at www.pridecommunicationsinc.net, and please feel free to share
your thoughts.
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Brenda
Anderson
Founder,
president and
chief executive
officer of
The Galilee
Agency Inc.
Terri Avery
Operations
manager/program
director for
WBAV FM
101.9 and
WPEG FM 97.9.
Tanya
Blackmon
President,
Presbyterian
Hospital
Huntersville.
Linda
Lockman
Brooks
Angeline
“Angi”
Clinton
Dr. Valencia
Covington
Okeatta
Brown
Antoinette
Cody
Mary C.
Curtis
Dr. Ophelia
Garmon
Brown
Debbie
Kwei Cook
Janine
Davis
Debra
Campbell
Stephanie
Counts
Dee Dixon
Founder and
president of
Lockman-Brooks
Marketing
Services LLC.
Vice president
of Wells Fargo
corporate supplier
diversity and chair
of the board of
directors of the
Urban League of the Central Carolinas.
The first female
African-American
resident at Charlotte
Memorial Hospital
(now Carolinas
Medical Center).
Director of
the CharlotteMecklenburg
Planning
Commission.
Senior vice
president of
enterprise
operations
services for
Duke Energy.
President of the
Charlotte Alumnae
Chapter of Delta
Sigma Theta Inc.
Vice president/
general manager
for WQNC Q92.7
and WPZS
Praise 100.9.
CEO and co-founder
of Women’s
Inter-Cultural
Exchange.
Medical director
and primary care
physician with
C.W. Williams
Community
Health Center.
Award-winning
journalist who
contributes to
PoliticsDaily.com,
National
Public Radio,
TheRoot.com and Creative Loafing.
Founder of Girl
Talk Foundation
Inc., and former
morning radio
personality on
WPEG 97.9.
President and
CEO of Pride
Communications
Inc., parent
company of Pride
Magazine, Pride
PR, Pride Awards
and the Sunset Jazz Festival. She is
co-founder of and the Women’s
Inter-Cultural Exchange.
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Sonya
Dukes
Felisha
Fletcher
Thereasea
Clark Elder
Shirley
Fulton
Vice president and
Wells Fargo Bank
corporate supplier
diversity director.
Lifelong educator
and health care
advocate.
Retired North
Carolina Superior
Court judge and
partner in the law
firm of Tin, Fulton,
Greene and Owen.
She is chair of the
board of trustees at the Charlotte School
of Law and owner of the Wadsworth
House in historic Wesley Heights.
President and
chief executive
officer of Today’s
Woman Inc.,
a publications
firm for area
magazines that
publishes Today’s Charlotte Woman.
BridgetAnne
Hampden
President and
CEO of JHR &
Associates LLC.
She is currently
a North Carolina
Education Lottery commissioner.
Cheryl
Emanuel
Glenda
Gabriel
Robyn
Hamilton
Judge
Yvonne
Mims Evans
Sonja Gantt
Venessa
Harrison
Community health
administrator/
division manager
for Mecklenburg
County and a
community activist.
Resident Superior
Court judge for
District 26.
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Owner of The
IT Factor Media
Group, an event
lifestyle company,
and senior
publicist for The
909 Group.
Belva W.
Greenage
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Senior vice
president of
Neighborhood
Lending, Consumer
Real Estate at
Bank of America.
Broadcast veteran
since 1997, she is
currently a weekly
anchor a WCNC-TV.
President and
chief executive
of Carolinas
Minority Supplier
Development
Council Inc.
Director of
legislative and
external affairs
of AT&T, North
Carolina.
Eddyce
Hobson
Vilma
Leake
Cynthia
Marshall
Carlenia
Ivory
Carol Lilly
Felicia H.
McAdoo
Tiffany
Jones
Chiquitha
Lloyd
Alisa
McDonald
Donna
Lacey
Vi
Alexander
Lyles
Carolyn
Mints
President of the
Charlotte Chapter
of The Links Inc.
Education and
community
activist, she
performs
community
relations and
outreach
for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,
Community Partnerships.
Founder of Digital
Divas Inc., a
boutique event
planning and media
consulting firm.
Executive director/
provider at Project
HealthShare Inc./
Charlotte
Volunteers in
Medicine Clinic.
Member of the
Mecklenburg
Board of County
Commissioners
and former
CharlotteMecklenburg
Board of Education member.
President and CEO
of Lil Associates,
a construction
consulting firm.
Administrator
of the Minority,
Women and
Small Business
Enterprise
for CharlotteMecklenburg
Schools.
Director with The
Lee Institute and
former assistant
city manager of
Charlotte.
State president
of AT&T North
Carolina.
Chief Deputy
Sheriff of the
Mecklenburg
County Sheriff’s
Department.
Vice president of
foundation and
community affairs
at Duke Energy.
Senior director of
operations of the
Harvey B. Gantt
Afro-American
Culture and Art
Center.
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Dr. Paula R.
Newsome
Marilyn B.
Richards
Joy Paige
Saundra
Scales
Geraldine
Sumter, Esq.
Nettie
Reeves
Tami
Simmons
Bea
Thompson
Wilhelmina
Rembert
Sarah
Stevenson
The first AfricanAmerican woman
optometrist to
open a private
practice in North
Carolina and
owner of Advantage Vision Center.
Vice president
for institutional
advancement at
Johnson C. Smith
University and
president of the
Crown Jewels
Chapter of The
Links Inc.
Fitness expert
and owner of N’
Shape with ’N, a
health and fitness
business.
Partnership
Specialist for the
Census Bureau,
Charlotte Region,
and Congressional
District 9
commissioner N.C. Social Services
Commission. She is a former
Mecklenburg County commissioner.
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Regional
development
director of the
United Negro
College Fund Inc.
President/CEO
of First Legacy
Community Credit
Union.
Senior vice
president of
corporate
philanthropy
and environmental
affairs at
Wells Fargo.
A community and
civil rights activist,
she was the first
African-American
woman on the
Charlotte school
board. She co-founded the Tuesday
Morning Breakfast Forum.
Daisy
Stroud
Lifelong educator
and champion
for equality.
She participated
in the initial
desegregation of
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.
A partner in the
legendary law
firm of Ferguson,
Stein, Chambers,
Gresham and
Sumter P.A.
The first AfricanAmerican female
anchor in Charlotte.
She is the news
and public affairs
director of WBAV
101.9 FM and host of “The Front Page with
Beatrice Thompson” and “Straight Talk with
Bea Thompson.”
Mary
Wilson
Director of the
Mecklenburg
County
Department of
Social Services.