2008 WINNERS

Embracing Leadership

This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Network Journal's annual list of "25 Influential Black Women in Business." After 10 years of identifying and interviewing such women, we would like to think that we know something about the road they travel to reach and stay on the top of their game; that we know something about the mountains they still dream of climbing; about what makes them laugh and what makes them cry; and about who and what inspire them. While each of their stories is unique, each carries the shared experience of having to grow taller and taller to surmount walls that keep getting higher and higher.

Recently, the League of Black Women conducted a nationwide survey to determine how Black women view themselves as leaders; how they evaluate the impact of race and gender with respect to the challenges of achieving and sustaining corporate leadership; and how connected they feel to Black corporate women leaders. The study concludes that Black women don't have to be persuaded that they are leaders-they already embrace the idea.

TNJ could have told them that.

Profiles by Soroya Brantley, Antoine B. Craigwell, Renee Daniel Flagler, Bevolyn Williams-Harold, Marcia Reed-Woodard.