Featured Success Stories

JANICE
BRYANT
HOWROYD

Janice Bryant Howroyd is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Act •1 Group, a global leader providing customized cutting edge solutions in the human resources industry. The Act .1 Group is a multi–billion dollar (USD) award –winning, international Talent and Talent Technology enterprise with multiple divisions that each service unique areas of employment and provide talent management solutions.

In the hallway of her headquarters hangs a painting inspired by the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown vs. the Board of Education, which outlawed school segregation, because, she says, “I’m a product of that energy.” She is currently listed as #34 in Forbes list of America’s Richest Self -Made Women.

In 2014, she was recognized by Black Enterprise as the first black woman to own and operate a billion -dollar company. JBH was BET’s first ever BET Honors Entrepreneur of the Year and has received Black Enterprise’s Business of the Year award. In 2013, she was appointed a USA Ambassador of Energy at the White House. In May of 2016 JBH received a key Presidential appointment by President Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

As a community leader and advocate for education, she lends her guidance to select organizations that include the International Trade Advisory Commission Board, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporate Board, and the Women’s Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government/Harvard University.JBH has traveled to over fifty countries promoting education and the powerful impact it has on communities around the world. Her ccomplishments, both personal and professional, are inspired by her deep faith and her love for her family. She says, “One cannot effectively lead without passionately serving.