For more than thirty years, I have worked in the marketing/communications industry. As Founder and President of Black Expo Community Development Association, our mission is to improve the economic viability of minority communities by providing education on topics that will enhance their personal development, well-being and welfare.
After receiving an MBA degree from Atlanta University, I took by first job with America's 4th largest advertising agency, Leo Burnett Advertising, becoming the first African American female to be admitted into their management-training program. While there, I worked on a number of fortune 500 products including Procter & Gamble and Nestle.
The years at Burnett provided the basis for what would become a career that ultimately lead to entrepreneurship. After three and half years with Burnett, I shifted my focus to targeted marketing assuming a position with Burrell Advertising. In the mid-80s my yearning to pursue my entrepreneurial aspirations lead to the formation of Image Advertising Group along with three other advertising professionals. This experience was significant in my development as it allowed me to experience the riggers of owning and operating a business first-hand. Some years later I returned to agency world with primary responsibilities on Kraft Foods.
In 1990, along with the Rev. Bermard C.Taylor, I founded Black Expo Chicago, and later, National Black Expo, a consumer products exposition that provided a venue for businesses to market their products and services. This program became one of the largest of its kind in America, boasting attendance up to 250,000 in a given year. This program was ultimately implemented in Chicago, Nashville and Birmingham during the 90' and early 2000's.
Simultaneous to the creation of Black Expo Chicago was the creation of Black Expo Community Development Association Inc. In 2006, we debuted the African-American Health Education Initiative (AAHEI). Our focus on consumer health education and testing is both personally and professionally gratifying as it allows me to be an active participant in enlightening and educating African-Americans regarding health issues that can needlessly shorten their lives. Our current tagline "It's Your Health, It's Your Life" capsulizes the very essence of what we are hoping to impart to those we encounter.
