100 of the best and brightest Black women in corporate America - Special Report - Blacks in Corporate America in the '90s

Ebony, Jan, 1990 by Lynn Norment, Roxanne Brown

100 Of The Best And Brightest Black Women in Corporate America

THE path to the top echelon of corporate America is not an easy road to travel. It is a course strewn with obstacles, and many would-be executives are detoured along the way or side-tracked altogether. But the women featured here and on the following pages have not been deterred from their goals. They are among the best and the brightest Black women in corporate America, and they compare favorably with their counterparts--male or female, Black or White.

In recent years, Black men and women have been making inroads into the corporate hierarchy, but they still represent only a small percentage of the business and industry decision-makers who impact so greatly on the lifestyles and livelihoods of the American people. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Black women represent 2 percent of the officials and managers of major corporations, Black men 2.9 percent.

Even today, just 10 years short of the year 2000, a great number of Fortune 500 companies report that they have no Black women in top executive positions. Moreover, a great number of the Black women (and men as well) who are in management posts are in high visibility but dead-end jobs that wield little influence within the company. Few Blacks are senior executives in "line" positions that lead to the president's and chief executive's offices.

Despite the odds, these women have confronted racism, sexism, old-boy networks and other roadblocks to the top posts. They have planned, plotted and plowed their own paths, seizing opportunities where they could find them, creating opportunities where they could not.

For the most part, these women are assertive and, when necessary, aggressive. They are self-starting, highly motivated working women, many of whom started their careers as secretaries and cherks and literally worked their way up the ladder. Others came to the business world with impressive academic credentials that gave them a jump-start on the competition.

And the corporate world is fiercely competitive, especially in the upper ranks where fewer jobs are available, the level of skill more equal, and "fitting in" weighs heavily on one's continued upward mobility.

Most of the women here would readily acknowledge that they've had some rough days, if not months and years. There have been times when their devotion to the job created friction in their personal lives, times when neglected children, spouses and boyfriends caused them to question their priorities. But they stuck it out and became even more meticulous about career planning, developing skills and mentor relationships, and working long hours to perform and produce above the level of their colleagues. They also became astute at corporate politicking and adept at making their counterparts and mangers feel comfortable with them while at the same time making sure their contributions were taken seriously.

Their reward is a satisfying, high-profile career, one that continues to provide a wealth of opportunities and challenges. Most of these women have not peaked out, but still aspire to higher positions, either with their present companies or elsewhere.

Vallery Kountze, recently appointed president of Republic Pictures Home Video, which grossed more than $20 million in 1989, says one of the key elements to success in corporate America is "developing one's ability to inspire cooperation, honesty, loyalty and communication, both downline and upline in the organization.

"As time goes by," she adds, "more and more Black women will develop the skills and the necessary network to compete more effectively on the corporate level than ever before."

Kountze and the other 99 female executives featured here are the women to watch in the '90s. They are among the best and the brightest Black women in corporate America.

Helen Johnson Collins is chairwoman of the board of directors at Atlanta Life Insurance Co., where she is also a member of the executive committee and the first female trustee of the Alonzo F. and Norris B. Herndon Foundation. Mrs. Collins began her tenure with the nation's second largest Black insurance company in 1930 as a clerk.

Joan B. Johnson is chairwoman of the board and treasurer of Johnson Products Co., the Chicago-based hair care manufacturing company that was started in 1954 and grossed $33 million in 1988. Bettiann G. Gardner (right) is co-chair of the board of Soft Sheen Products Inc., which was founded in Chicago in 1964 and grossed $85 million in 1988.

Julia W. Taylor is chairwoman, president and chief executive officer of Mechanics and Farmers Bank in Durham, N.C., which has assets of $86 million and is ranked seventh among Black banks.

With talent, hard work and perseverance, these women have climbed the ladder of success to lofty positions in corporate America (counter clockwise): Pam M. Johnson, president and publisher, The Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal newspaper, Gannett Co.; Ernesta G. Procope, founder, president and CEO, E. G. Bowman Co. insurance brokerage firm, New York City; Thelma J. Smith, president and CEO, Illinois/Service Federal Savings & Loan Assoc., Chicago; Suzanne de Passe, president, Motown Productions, Los Angeles; Vallery Kountze, president, Republic Pictures Home Video, Los Angeles; and Gloria A. McDowell, corporate secretary, Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co., Los Angeles.