Women’s History Month – III

   Women Who Made History In Finance                

Maggie Lena Walker (1864-1934) was an African-American businesswoman and teacher. Walker was the first African-American woman to charter a bank and serve as its president in the United States. In 1903, Maggie L. Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as a bank president.) As a leader, Walker achieved successes with the vision to make tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans. Disabled by paralysis and a wheelchair user later in life, Walker also became an example for people with disabilities.

Kiko Davis – One Black woman has managed to defy all the odds and is now the only Black woman to own and operate a banking institution in the United States. Kiko Davis is a major stockholder of the First Independence Bank in Detroit.  As a trustee of the Donald Davis Living Trust, the tenth-largest African American-owned bank in the country. In addition to running the bank, Davis is also the founder and president of the Don Davis Legacy Foundation to immortalize the legacy of her husband, Donald Davis, and also works as the managing director of Groovesville Productions & Publishing L.L.C., which controls the rights of several Grammy Award-winning music catalogs.

Sheila Crump Johnson (1949 – ) is an American businesswoman, co-founder of BET, CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts, and the first African-American woman to attain a net worth of at least a billion dollars.  Johnson is team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, a position she earned before the 2005 season. She is the first African-American woman to be an owner or partner in three professional sports franchises: the Washington Capitals  (NHL), and the Washington Wizards (NBA). Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, a company she founded in 2005. Salamander’s portfolio includes: Reunion Resort located in Florida. The Innisbrook Resort And Golf Club, a 900-acre, 72 hole PGA tour golf course in Palm Harbor, FL; and The Salamander Resort & Spa in the Blue Ridge Mountain in Middleburg, VA.