Sheila Woods-Skipper, The President Judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the region’s busiest and most prestigious criminal and civil courtrooms. She also cochairs the system’s administrative governing board which pulls together leaders from its branches—Common Pleas Court, Municipal Court, Orphans Court, and Family Court.
Donna L. Allie, PhD, launched the Team Clean, Inc. company in the mid-1980s as the solopreneur president/CEO; she has grown the company to over seven hundred employees. As company president, Allie’s client list includes government, education, industry, professional offices, and sports, events, and entertainment venues such as Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kilimandjaro owner Youma Bah hails from Senegal, West Africa. Her restaurant offers delicious food at very reasonable prices and was lauded by Philadelphia magazine at ”one of the best in town.”
The seeds of Catherine Hicks longtime interest in media were planted in high school, took root at university, was honed as an adult and blossomed in 2015. Catherine took over as Publisher and Co-owner of the Philadelphia SUN Newspaper after the untimely death of its founder.
Syreeta Scott is the owner of a successful natural salon, Duafe Holistic Hair Care. With an impressive list of clients that include notable celebs like Jill Scott, Janet Jackson, Questlove and Smokie Robinson, Syreeta continues to build her empire, which now includes the Sable Collective Boutique.
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
