Beverly Bond (born December 19, 1970) is an American, author, DJ, businesswoman, philanthropist, producer, writer and former Wilhemenia model. She founded the organization Black Girls Rock! which recognizes the success of Black women.Anderson, Stacy A. (2011)
"Beverly Bond Aims to uplift Black Women With "Black Girls Rock"
''Huffington Post.'' Retrieved 2012-11-12.

Early life

Bond was born on December 19, 1970 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She was raised by her mother, Mary Burroughs. As a child, Bond lived in several homes throughout the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Bond attended a different school every year of her childhood from kindergarten to tenth grade, and sometimes two schools in one year. Her mother collected music and told her about many genres of music, including hip-hop, and world beat,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, funk, and old school. Bond started to collect her own hip-hop records, and became a serious

record collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

Career

Modelling

At the age of seventeen, Bond moved to New York to pursue a modeling career. Her first agency was Elite New Faces, where because of her 5’9 frame she was booked for jobs that were mainly for athletic brands. Bonds signed with

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a full service modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, United States. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Founded in 196 ...

and was booked for campaigns and commercials for

Diesel Jeans Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian retail clothing company, located in Breganze, Italy. It sells denim and other clothing, footwear, and accessories. The clothing line has two different brands: Diesel and Diesel Black Gold. There is also a line for ...

Guess A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...

, Nike, and

Nordstroms Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

DJing

In November 1999, Bond bought a set of

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, with aspirations of using her extensive record collection to become a DJ. She started deejaying at local clubs in New York. As she secured more DJ work, she gradually stopped attending modelling auditions. Bond spun and mixed for gatherings of celebrities including

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

, Kimora Lee Simmons, Alicia Keys, Hugo Boss,

Andre Harrell Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 7, 2020) was an American music executive and multimedia producer. In 1986, recently a rapper, he formed Uptown Records, soon a leader in R&B, rap, and their fusion, "hip hop soul" and " new ...

and Veronica Webb, and Playboy. She spun for singer D'Angelo's ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

'' album release party. She toured with

Sunshine Anderson Sunshine Jocelyn Sian Anderson (born June 7, 1974) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter. Early life Beginnings Anderson was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and later moved to Charlotte. Wallace Sellars, a friend of a pro ...

and Musiq Soulchild for the Courvoisier tour where she was the official DJ for Erykah Badu,

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

, and Amerie. Bond has also spun at The Glamour Fashion Awards, the VH1 Fashion Awards, ESPN's X-Games Awards, The CFDA Awards, the Chanel parties (during New York Fashion Week), and the NY Planet Hollywood opening. She has appeared on BET's '' Rap City: Tha Basement'' and has also appeared as a celebrity DJ at Eileen Fords “Super Model of the World” contest in Puerto Rico. In 2012, Bond was honored at the ASCAP 4th Annual Women Behind the Music gathering in New York. In 2013 Bond spun at New York nightclubs, and contributed regularly to Russell Simmons' ''OneWorld'' magazine and '' Essence''. On July 9, 2020, Bond joined Senator Kamala Harris and other artists for the "Get Up, Stand Up!" virtual fundraiser in support of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

Organization/Black Girls Rock Awards Show

Bond is the founder of the organization Black Girls Rock! This started out with a T-shirt imprint in 2006 and grew into a mentorship program for young women promoting self-worth and empowerment.Goodson, David (2011)
"'Black Girls Rock,' trust and believe"
''New York Amsterdam News.'' Retrieved 2012-11-12. In 2006 Bond also created the Black Girls Rock! Awards. The first ceremony was held in Brooklyn,NY. In 2007 Bond took the well received award show to the prestigious Lincoln Center in Manhattan New York.

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

Network executive Stephen Hill was on the host committee and attended the 2nd Annual BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards in 2007 and was instrumental in bringing the award show to BET/Viacom in 2009. In 2010 Bond partnered with BET to produce and broadcast the first televised version of the award show. Bond was the creator and executive producer of the show, which honors the accomplishments of women of color in categories that included acting, politics, music, and more. The show also has entertainment throughout the night. The premier garnered 2.7 million viewers, and the awards won an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for outstanding Variety Series or Special in 2013 and 2014. The show has now reached 10 million viewers annually, and in 2015 she initiated an associated organization, Black Girls Rock! Africa. At the 2016 awards show, Bond was thanked by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

for her promotion of black women. In May 2016, Bond was presented with a Women Who Care award in New York."Beverly Bond & More Among Honorees for 2016 Women Who Care Awards to Benefit United Cerebral Palsy of NY"
''Broadway World'', May 16, 2016

References

External links

Black Girls Rock! OrganizationBeverly Bond
at APB Speakers {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Beverly 1970 births Living people African-American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople African-American female models American female models African-American models American DJs Musicians from New York City 21st-century American women African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women