
LEGACY and Luminaries HONOREES
2025 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Melba Moore
Tony Award Winner,
Grammy Award Nominated Singer and Actress
Glenda McNeal
Chief Partner Officer,
American Express
Robin Washington
Incoming President and Chief Operating and Financial Officer,
Salesforce
Valerie Jarrett
Chief Executive Officer,
Barack Obama Foundation
2025 LUMINARY AWARD HON0REES
Monique Rodriquez
American Entrepreneur and Founder,
Mielle Organics
Jemele Hill
Journalist
Minda Harts
Workplace Consultant, Author & Speaker
Tunde Oyeneyin
New York Time’s Best-Selling Author, Peloton Instructor and Motivational Speaker
2024 LEGACY AWARD HONOREES

Judy A. Smith
Founder & CEO,Smith & Company

Thasunda Brown Duckett,
President & CEO,TIAA

Mellody Hobson
Co-CEO & Chairman of the Board of Trustees,Ariel Investment Trust
2024 LUMINIARY AWARD HONOREES

Aisha Bowe
Founder & CEO,STEMBoard and LINGO

Symone Sanders Townsend
Author, Seasoned Democratic Strategist, Co-HostMSNBC’s The Weekend

Dia Simms
Executive Chairwoman, Lobos 1707/Co-Founder, Pronghorn
2023 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
LORETTA DEVINE
Actress
TRACEY TRAVIS
EVP & CFO
The Estee Lauder Companies
VERA MOORE
President & CEO
Vera Moore Cosmetics
LISA WARDELL
Former Chairman & CEO
Adtalem Global Education
2023 LUMINARY AWARD HON0REES
Issa Rae
Actress, Writer, Producer & Comedian
NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES
Pulitzer Prize Winner
LAUREN SIMMONS
Wolfette Of Wall Street
2022 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Yolanda Adams
Gospel Legend
A’ Lelia Bundles
Journalist; Author; Founder,
Madam Walker Family Archives
Sherrilyn Ifill
President & Director-Counsel,
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Dionne Warwick
Legendary Recording Artist
Janice Bryant Howroyd
Founder & CEO,
ActOne Group
2022 LUMINARY AWARD HON0REES
Tamika Mallory
Activist; Author
Ukonwa Ojo
Global Chief Marketing Officer,
Prime Videos & Amazon Studios
2020 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Debbie Allen
Award-winning Actress, Director and Producer
Debra Lee
Former CEO & Chairman Emeritus, BET Networks;
CEO, Leading Women Defined Inc.
Myrtle Potter
Chief Executive Officer, Sumitovant Biopharma;
Former Executive Vice President & COO, Genentech
Gale V. King
Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer,
Nationwide
2019 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Cynthia Marshall
CEO,
Dallas Mavericks
Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Chaka Khan
Legendary Singer, Songwriter, Activist
Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Bishop of the 10th Episcopal District of the AME Church
2018 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Carmen De Lavallade
Legendary Dancer, Choreographer, Actress
Edith W. Cooper
Executive Vice President and Global Head of Human Capital Management,
Goldman Sachs Group
Jayne Kennedy Overton
Ground-breaking Sportscaster, Actress, Model, Philanthropist
Donna Brazile
Veteran Democratic Political Strategist, Author, and Adjunct Professor
2017 LEGACY AWARD HON0REES
Ursual Burns
Chairman & CEO,
Xerox Corp.
Phylicia Rashad
Award-winning Actress
Shirley Caesar
Pastor & Award Winning Gospel Artist
Marcia Gillespie
Former Editor-in-Chief of Ms. Magazine and Essence; Gender and Race Activist
2016 LEGACY AWARD HONOREES
Renee Powell
First African American woman to be inducted into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews
Vanessa L. Williams
Actress, Singer, Author
N. Joyce Payne
Founder: Thurgood Marshall Fund
2015 LEGACY AWARD HONOREES
Susan L. Taylor
Founder & CEO, National Cares Mentoring Movement
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Journalist & Author
Pam Grier
Activist & Actress
Beverly Tatum
President, Spelman College
2014 LEGACY AWARD HONOREES
Valerie Daniels Carter
Myrlie Evers
Civil Rights Activist
Cicely Tyson
Actress
Julieanna Richardson
Founder of History
Marian Wright Edelman
President & Founder, Children’s Defense Fund