Black History TrailBlazers #13

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Black TrailBlazers Making History

Kitty Chaney Reed - Executive/Manager, Activist. Tech 

Ep.  126 - Kitty Chaney-Reed joined IBM in 2017 as the Vice President of Quote to Cash for North America and Latin America and has been recently promoted Vice President of Enterprise Operations and selected as Senior State / Senior Location Executive for Georgia. She and her team are responsible for the end-to-end sales support process. She is the executive sponsor for the Atlanta Global Women in IBM initiative and also serves on IBM's Black Executive Council. She is also senior state executive for IBM in Georgia. Kitty Chaney-Reed mentors and coaches girls and women who aspire to lead in the areas of business and technology because she believes in paying it forward. She served on the Women in Technology board of directors as the treasurer for 3 years and now serves on their advisory board. She is a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of America. In 2015, she was awarded the Most Powerful and Influential Woman Award from the Georgia Diversity Council in recognition of her efforts. She was named Woman of the Year for enterprise businesses with over 2500 employees by the Atlanta-based organization, Women in Technology.

Read more about Kitty.

Leslie Streeter  - Entrepreneur, Entertainer, Author

Ep. 208 - Leslie Gray Streeter is an author, veteran journalist, and speaker. whose memoir “Black Widow: A Sad/Funny Through Grief For People Who Normally Avoid Books With Words Like 'Journey' In The Title,” was published in March 2020 by Little, Brown, and Company. Until recently, she was the longtime entertainment and lifestyle columnist and writer for the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fl. She and her work have been featured in the Miami Herald, the Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Seattle Times, The Atlantic, the Today show, SiriusXM, O, The Oprah Magazine, and more.

Read more about Leslie.

Leslie Andrews - Activist, Entrepreneur, Executive/Manager, Nonprofit Professional, Activist, Feminist, HBCU Champion

Ep.  108 - Leslie Andrews joined National Urban League in New York as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Advancement. Upon graduating high school, the young Leslie Graham found herself at the esteemed Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. Detroit-born and bred she grew up absent the understanding of the importance of historically black colleges and universities to the African American community. Spelman was established in 1881, to educate Black girls. Because of segregation, Black colleges were initially established by churches, white philanthropists, and others to educate the Negro population. Her four years at Spelman, with friends made at Morehouse, Clark College, Morris Brown and other nearby HBCUs made her a strong advocate for the HBCU purpose and mission; so much so that upon returning to Detroit and following an early career crafted in the media industry, she joined the upper ranks of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), a national nonprofit with the mission to raise money for expanding college admissions for the underserved Black community. Her activism extended to advocacy for Black women and girls as demonstrated by her service as the charter president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Renaissance Chapter (Detroit Metro Area), steadfast commitment Detroit's revitalization, and current leadership role in the National Urban League. and the lifestyle blog "Grown Woman Chronicles" - targeting subjects important to women over 40. She has served in several prominent appointed roles such as co-chair of the community outreach subcommittee of the Detroit Public Schools Transition Committee under the leadership of Transition Manager Judge Stephen Rhodes; and serving as co-chair of the Community Advisory Board of Detroit Police Chief James A. Craig from 2014-2016. She is also an appointee of former Mayor Dave Bing on the city of Detroit Human Right Commission in 2011.

Read more about Leslie.

Rita Venable - Activist, Manager

Ep 99 - After suffering marital abuse and divorcing, Rita threw herself into ensuring equal protections for her daughters, other women and their daughters. She finished her college degree while working, raising her girls, and working as a steadfast member of the local NAACP, and a member of both the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW). BUT, her volunteerism was not limited to organizations promoting civil and women's rights. Rita early-on saw the necessity of collaborating with others; with primarily white organizations and becoming a local "barrier-crosser" to the benefit of the Entire community and All families, women, and girls. With the same 24 hours-in-a-day that we each receive, Rita makes us stop and wonder, "What Am I doing with My time.?#@!?"

Read more about Rita.

Phyllis Newhouse - Activist, Entrepreneur, Retired Miliary Officer, Cyber Security Provider

Ep.  164 - Phyllis Newhouse is the Founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc. and the Founder of ShoulderUp. Passionate about women-led businesses, Newhouse teaches aspiring entrepreneurs to recognize and capitalize on their leadership skills and empowers others to operate in greatness. Phyllis Newhouse is an entrepreneur, retired military senior noncommissioned officer, mentor, Founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc., and Founder of ShoulderUp. A pioneer in cybersecurity, she is the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year award in the technology category. In 2017 and Newhouse became the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year® award in the technology category. She was admitted into the 2013 class of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women, and in 2019 was inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of fame. Additionally, XSI received inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list in 2013 and 2014 and has been recognized as one of Women’s Presidents’ Organization’s (WPO) 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned Companies in the U.S. consecutively for the past six years.

Read more about Phyllis.

Caroline May - Educator, Gov/NonProfit Professional

Ep.  13 - Carolyn May actually witnessed President John Kennedy's Inaugural Speech on the steps of the Capitol to pass the torch to a new generation. She heard JFK beseech Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what You can do for your country," and "This is the time the torch is passed to a new generation." Imagine having a high-powered career at Capitol Hill as a young woman and later committing to impacting children's lives through education. That was Carolyn May, a trailblazer who did it all. She has a Master's in Library Science and worked as a media specialist for all levels of schools, including a private school in Indian Creek. She worked for Senator Thomas Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, talked with Bobby Kennedy, and met Hugh O'Brien, a Hollywood movie star. As a then-young State Department employee, she recalls making the travel arrangements and schedule of receptions for the first congressional delegation to visit Moscow!

Read more about Carolyn.

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