FunTimes Magazine

Captain Lisa Forrest may be small in stature, but over the course of her nearly 17-year career in the Philadelphia Fire Department, she has achieved some big accomplishments: Forrest is the first African-American female fire captain in the history of the Department. She is President, The Club Valiants, Inc., an association for Black Fire Fighters in Philadelphia.

Yolanda Wisher is a multidisciplinary poet, educator and currently the third Poet Laureate of the City of Philadelphia. Wisher is a Hedgebrook Writer-in-Residence (2016), Pew Fellow (2015), Catalyst Initiative Grantee (2015), Leeway Art & Change Grantee (2008), Cave Canem Fellow (1999-2000), and the first Montgomery County Pennsylvania Poet Laureate (1999).

Tina Sloan Green M.Ed., Professor Emerita Temple University; President/Co-Founder, Black Women in Sports Foundation (BWSF). When you think about the real trailblazers for Black women in sports, she is at the top of the list. She went from a college lacrosse walk-on to one of the most decorated coaches in Temple athletics history.

Melony Roy is director of social media for KYW Newsradio 1060, supervising the station’s interactive media branding efforts. A native of Camden, NJ, Roy is President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ), and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Longtime entrepreneur Charita Powell started Amazulu Collections in 1985, best known for its retail operation in Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market. Today, Powell travels the world and collaborates with artists on the one-of-akind offerings that fashion-forward Philadelphians know they can only acquire at Amazulu, including its latest outlet, The Amazulu Living Room in South Philadelphia

Joanne Jones, is committed to family and community, evident through the activities she supports but her role as National Communications Director of The Mothers of Professional Basketball Players. Founded in 1994, the organization was developed to reach out to professional basketball players in time of need. She is mother of Dahntay Jones, Guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers, 2016 Champions of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and a proud grandmother.

Celebrating Philadelphia’s influential Black women of 2017

Joanne Jones, a 20 year Information Technology Professional is committed