August is National Black Business Month! Black business and non-profit professionals are integral to our economy and they contribute invaluable knowledge and skills to the companies for which they work. This Black Business Month, we honor Black professionals and the work that they do!
Want to learn more from Black professionals? Consider checking out any of these books exploring the experiences and knowledge of some of the most renowned Black professionals in the fields of business, finance, and non-profit work.
Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being An Outsider (2023) by Stacy Spikes
From Stacy Spikes, the award-winning entrepreneur USA Today named one of the "21 Most Influential Black Professionals in Tech" comes an empowering, bracingly honest, entertaining blueprint for success in life and work. Get the true story of what really happened to MoviePass, the nation’s groundbreaking first-ever theatrical subscription service — straight from the co-founder and former CEO himself.
Build The Damn Thing: How To Start A Successful Business If You're Not A Rich White Guy (2022) by Kathyrn Finney
Build the Damn Thing is a hard-won, battle-tested guide for every entrepreneur who the establishment has left out. Finney, an investor and startup champion, explains how to build a business from the ground up. Finney empowers entrepreneurs to take advantage of their unique networks and resources; arms readers with responses to investors who say, “Great pitch but I just don’t do Black women”; and inspires them to overcome naysayers.
Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success On Your Own Terms (2020) by Shellye Archambeau
Full of empowering wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's first female African American CEOs, this inspiring leadership book — named Best Business Book of the Year by Fortune and Bloomberg — offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals.
It's About Damn Time: How To Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage (2020) by Arlan Hamilton
From a Black, gay woman who broke into the boys' club of Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you want to be in, and achieving your own dreams.
Strategize To Win: The New Way To Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over In Your Career (2014) by Carla A. Harris
Whether we’re starting out, striving toward a promotion, or looking for a new opportunity, the working world isn’t what it used to be. Wall Street veteran Carla Harris knows this, and in Strategize to Win she gives readers the tools they need to get started, get “unstuck” from bad situations, redirect momentum, and position themselves to manage their careers no matter the environment.
The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires Featuring The Seven Laws of Wealth (2013) by Dennis Paul Kimbro
Dennis Kimbro, observing how the weight of the continuing housing and credit crises disproportionately impacts the African-American community, takes a sharp look at a carefully cultivated group of individuals who’ve scaled the heights of success and how others can emulate them. Based on a seven-year study of 1,000 of the wealthiest African Americans, The Wealth Choice offers a trove of sound and surprising advice about climbing the economic ladder, even when the odds seem stacked against you.
Perfect Day To Boss Up: A Hustler's Guide To Building Your Empire (2021) by Rick Ross
Rick Ross is a hip-hop icon and a towering figure in the business world, but his path to success was not always easy. Despite adversity and setbacks, Ross held tight to his vision and never settled for anything less than greatness. Now, for the first time, he shares his secrets to success, offering his own life as a road map to readers looking to build their own empire.
Wolf Hustle: A Black Woman on Wall Street (2022) by Cin Fabré
From the South Bronx projects to the boardroom at only nineteen years old, Cin Fabré ran with the wolves of Wall Street. From landing clients worth hundreds of millions to gaining, losing, then gaining back fortunes in seconds, Fabré examines her years spent trading frantically and hustling successfully, grappling with what it takes to build a rich life, and, ultimately, beating Wall Street at its own game.
Women Of Color In Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring The Next Generation of Technology Innovators (2020) by Susanne Tedrick
This book will help you overcome the obstacles that often prevent women of color from pursuing and staying in tech careers. Contrary to popular belief, tech careers are diverse and fun — and they go far beyond just coding. This book will show you that today's tech careers are incredibly dynamic, and you'll learn how your soft skills — communication, public speaking, networking — can help you succeed in tech.
Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love (2020) by multiple authors
Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love is a collection of stories documenting racism and survival by 14 accomplished Black fundraisers working in charities across North America. With searing and intimate detail, they write about their experiences with anti-Black racism — coping with being last hired, first fired, overlooked for promotion to outright hostility in toxic workplaces. Their testimony chips away at the idea of the inherent goodness of the charitable sector.
The Anti-Racist Organization: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace (2022) by Shareen Daniels
HR strategist Shereen Daniels delivers an incisive and honest discussion of how business leaders can change workplace practices to create a more anti-racist and equitable environment. The author draws on her personal and client-facing experience, historical facts, legal proceedings, HR insights, and quantitative analysis to equip readers with the knowledge and tools they need to transform their companies.
Making Work Work: The Positivity Solution For Any Work Environment (2016) by Shola Richards
In Making Work Work, an internationally recognized leadership consultant offers solutions for creating a more positive professional environment using kindness and mutual respect.
How To Have Difficult Conversations About Race: Practical Tools for Necessary Change in the Workplace and Beyond (2022) by Kwame Christian
Negotiation expert Kwame Christian’s motto is: “The best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations.” If we want a more equitable workplace, and a more equitable world, we have to talk to each other about race. Whether you’re looking to create change for yourself and other BIPOCs, or a white ally seeking to support your coworkers or clients, you’ll learn how to: overcome your internal barriers to talking about DEI, work around others’ barriers, use "Compassionate Curiosity" to connect and persuade, and more.
Win When They Say You Won't: Break Through Barriers and Leveling Up Your Success (2023) by Daphne E. Jones
Innovation thought leader and former Fortune 50 executive, Daphne E. Jones has experienced her share of dog whistle disempowerment throughout her career — but she didn’t let it stop her. Instead, she developed an actionable system for overcoming imposter syndrome, negativity and building the career of her dreams — and now she shares her winning approach with you.
The Social Impact Advantage: Win Customers and Talent By Harnessing Your Business For Good (2023) by Tynesia Boyea-Robinson
With more than a decade of success bringing companies and organizations together to the benefit of both, Tynesia Boyea-Robinson is an expert in helping business leaders and managers leverage social impact for increased business profits. In The Social Impact Advantage, she offers tools, resources, and insights to help you successfully navigate the modern business climate in an authentic way.
Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter (2020) by Curtis Jackson
For the first time, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson opens up about his amazing comeback — from tragic personal loss to thriving businessman and cable’s highest-paid executive — in this unique self-help guide.
An Unplanned Life: A Memoir (2022) by Thomas A. Franklin
An Unplanned Life:is a major autobiography of a remarkable life that broke down racial barriers, transformed institutions, and energized the struggle for justice, by the former president of the Ford Foundation, Thomas A. Franklin.
I Am Debra Lee: A Memoir (2023) by Debra Lee
I Am Debra Lee is a riveting memoir by the former CEO of Black Entertainment Television (BET), about the glamorous and ugly moments of being a high-powered Black woman executive in the entertainment industry.
Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience (2019) by multiple authors
Race, Work, and Leadership is a rare and important compilation of essays that examines how race matters in people's experience of work and leadership. What does it mean to be Black in corporate America today? How are racial dynamics in organizations changing in a post-Obama era? How do we build inclusive organizations?
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