We are a coalition of Black women and allies driving bold solutions focused on creating multi-generational wealth and opportunity.

Through community care, collaboration, and capital, and allyship, Highland Leaders are building their legacies as a collective. Meet the founding coalition leaders below. Their focus areas range from education to economic empowerment, to political agency, and well-being.

I am Amanda Alexander. I build community power and cultivate joy and imagination. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Detroit, MI

Role
Founder of the Detroit Justice Center; Host of Freedom Dreams podcast

I am Erika Alexander. I am a storyteller and expert at ‘human being.’ I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Playa Vista, CA

Role
Cofounder Color Farm Media; DuPont Columbia recipient; Arizona’s finest; Sammie’s daughter

I am Ramatu Bangura. I am a strategist and community-builder. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Beltsville, MD

Role
Black Feminist Strategist; Executive Director of the Children's Rights Innovation Fund

I am Kenya Bradshaw. I am reclaiming Black educational liberation. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Memphis, TN

Role
Chief Program Officer of Reconstruction

I am Rhonda Broussard. I am building communities of care. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
New Orleans, LA

Role
Founder & CEO of Beloved Community; Author; Maman bilingue

I am LaTosha Brown. I am a narrative shifter and institution builder. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Atlanta, GA

Role
Founder of Truthspeaks & Southern Black Girls and Women's Consortium

I am Sade' Cooper. I am a servant leader challenging the status quo. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Denver, CO

Role
Co-Founder and CEO of CHIC; Board Bound Committee member; Founding member of Educational Justice for Black Coloradans; Mother

I am Sade Dozan. I am a Black woman disruptor. I am rewriting philanthropy. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Bayonne, NJ

Role
Generational Incubator; Joy Activist; Bibliophile; Foodie

I am Nakeia L. Drummond. I am my sisters' keeper and the manifestation of love and unwavering hope. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Randallstown, MD

Role
Social entrepreneur; Beach bum; Encourager; Daughter, Wife, Mother, Sister, Cousin, and Friend

I am Former State Senator Joyce Elliott. I am committed to the long game and my shoes are worn because I walk the walk. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Little Rock, AR

Role
Intergenerationalist; Mentor; Collaborator; Grandmother; Guardian of Nature’s gifts

I am Yordanos Eyoel. I am an Ethiopian-American democracy entrepreneur building an entrepreneurship ecosystem to advance inclusive democracies. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Malden, MA

Role
Founder and CEO, Keseb; Board Chair, PushBlack; Civil Society Fellow of the ADL and Aspen Institute

I am Vanessa Garrison. I am my ancestors' wildest dreams. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Washington, D.C.

Role
Co-Founder of the largest health movement in the world for Black women; Creator; Activist; Adventurer

I am Rhiana Gunn-Wright. I am a worker for justice. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Flossmoor, IL

Role
A systems thinker and policy researcher; Storyteller; Mother

I am Erica Hall. I am a force of nature and a Black Woman proud to demonstrate how to appreciate, celebrate, and elevate Black women. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
St. Petersburg, FL

Role
Leader of the Florida Food Policy Council and the Sierra Club; NYC born girl and raised; Caribbean beach lover; Environmentalist and outdoor enthusiast; I'm Black and Green

I am Dr. Lakeysha (Key) Hallmon. I am a transformational visionary and doer. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Atlanta, GA

Role
Champion of the Village; Auntie; Adventurer

I am Khadija Haynes. I am strong-willed and ever-ready. I find solutions others don't see by making unusual connections. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Denver, CO

Role
First and only Black woman to serve as Chief of Staff for the Colorado General Assembly -Senate; Political Strategist; Artist

I am Mary-Pat Hector. I am neither the past nor the future, I am the now. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Lithonia, GA

Role
Spelman Graduate; Strategist; Advocate; Daughter

I am Kaya Henderson. I am a fighter for educational justice for our young people. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Washington, D.C.

Role
CEO of Reconstruction; Co-host of Pod Save the People

I am Representative Leslie Herod. I am a force for change. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Denver, CO

Role
First LGBTQ African American to hold elected office in CO; Adventurer; Lover of the arts; Dog mom

I am Latoya Holman. I am a force for equality, unity, and change. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Las Vegas, NV

Role
National Ally Advocate for LGBTQ equality; DEI Champion; Collector and lover of friends; Dog mom

I am Shelley Jackson. I am an organizer and facilitator working towards a world where our communities can thrive. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Phoenix, AZ

Role
Instituto Program Director; RSD Governing Board Member; Artist; Daughter; Sister; Aunt

I am Asia Johnson. I define myself and others by the best in us, not the worst in us. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Los Angeles, CA

Role
Filmmaker and Storyteller

I am Dr. Carolyn Johnson. I am a Health Equity Strategist; I am pure energy. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Alameda, CA

Role
Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation; Camper; Traveler; Mom and Aunty

I am Deidre Johnson. I am a Health Equity Strategist and pure energy. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Denver, CO

Role
Mother, Sister; CEO; Entrepreneur; Strategist; Storyteller; Writer; Seeker

I am Jeanine Valrie Logan. I am a culture bearer and committed to liberation. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Chicago, IL

Role
Founder of the Chicago South Side Birth Center; Leader in Residence at Chicago Beyond; Midwife; Herbalist; Wife; Mother; Gardener; Dreamer

I am Chastity Lord. I am a mother, wife, manifester and demystifier. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Washington, D.C.

Role
Reframing generational poverty and economic mobility as a social justice issue that sits at the nexus of race and gender

I am Lindsay Love. I am breaking barriers by decolonizing what it means to heal and be well. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Chandler, AZ

Role
Founder of Therapy Luv LLC; Licensed Clinical Social Worker; First Black woman elected to Chandler USD Board

I am Carolene Mays. I am inspiring hope and influencing leadership towards purpose. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Indianapolis, IN

Role
Founder of Inspiring Leadership, LLC and Black Leadership & Legacies, Inc.

I am Katara McCarty. I am an emotional well-being advocate. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Indianapolis, IN

Role
Founder & CEO Katecha Corp; Creator of Exhale App; Healer

I am Tynesha McHarris. I am a Black Feminist on assignment. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Brooklyn, NY

Role
Co-founder of The Black Feminist Fund; Supporter to many working to resource liberators and movements; Sister; Friend; Partner

I am Chelsea Miller. I am a visionary and disruptor. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Brooklyn, NY

Role
Co-Founder of Freedom March NYC; Civil Rights Activist; Media Strategist; Global Speaker; CEO of CPM Global

I am Aisha Nyandoro. I am a disruptor of the status quo and a builder of new possibilities. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Jackson, MS

Role
CEO of Springboard To Opportunities; Architect of the Magnolia Mother's Trust; Wife; Mother

I am Franchelle Parker. I am a builder of the beloved community. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Buffalo, NY

Role
Founding Director of Open Buffalo; My life is the pursuit of love, justice, joy and a relationship with the most high

I am Anne Elaine Price. I am freedom. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Oakland, CA

Role
Co-President and Founder of The Maven Collaborative

I am Dr. T.M. Robinson-Mosley. I am a Game Changer for Mental Health Access. I am a Highland.

Current Location
Atlanta, GA

Role
Founder & CEO, The Playbook; Counseling Psychologist; Sport Mental Health Expert; Aspiring DJ

I am Dr. Stella Safo. I am reimagining healthcare models for historically marginalized populations. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Brooklyn, NY

Role
HIV Primary Care Doctor; Founder of Just Equity for Health - a healthcare improvement company committed to creating equitable care models

I am Topeka K. Sam. I am E.P.I.C. (Ending Poverty and InCarceration). I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Miami, FL

Role
Founder & CEO of The Ladies of Hope Ministries, Inc.; CEO of EPIC Financial Solutions PB LLC, TKS Ventures LLC, and Faces & Voices Inc.

I am Carmita Semaan. I am the living legacy of strong black southern women. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Los Angeles, CA

Role
Founder of the Surge Institute; Seer; Consummate investor in people; Lover of the arts, the written word, music, and whiskey

I am State Representative Robin Shackleford. I am a change for the better. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Indianapolis, IN

Role
Impactful Legislator; Health & Life Broker; World Explorer; Mile Maker

I am Dr. Dena Simmons. I am a freedom conductor and truth teller. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
New York, NY

Role
Founder and Executive Director of LiberatED; Lover of life; Good and necessary troublemaker; Cat mom

I am Monica Raye Simpson. I am a cultural strategist committed to sexual and reproductive justice by any means necessary. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
East Point, GA

Role
Executive Director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective; Black Southern Queer Artist & Creative; Human Rights Defender; Fine Auntie

I am Jocelyn J. Stephens. I am on a mission and moving with a purpose. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Jacksonville, FL

Role
Mother; Educator; Strategist; Community Organizer; Visionary with Southern roots and charm; Foodie

I am Janice Tennant. I am striving to make the outdoors more inclusive to all people. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
East Grand Rapids, MI

Role
Merrell Global Chief Marketing Officer

I am Anasa Troutman. I am a stand for safety, joy, love, and abundance. I am a Highland Leader.

Current Location
Memphis, TN

Role
Cultural strategist, writer, producer, and developer living at the intersection of culture and the economy; Founder & CEO of Historic Clayborn Temple and The BIG We ecosystem

I am Monique Wilson. I am a dreamer and a catalyst for change. I am a powerful Black woman.

Current Location
Chicago, IL

Role
Senior Director of Investments at Chicago Beyond; Neighbor; Daughter; Wife-to-be