Janice Bryant Howroyd (born September 1, 1952) is an entrepreneur, businesswoman, and author. She is founder and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of The ActOne Group, the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned personnel company founded in the U.S. Howroyd is the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman to build and own a billion dollar company.

Early life

Janice Bryant was born on September 1, 1952, in Tarboro,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, the fourth of 11 children in her family. As a teen, she was one of the first African American students to participate in desegregation of her town's high school.

Career

In 1976, Howroyd moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and worked as a temporary secretary for her brother-in-law, Tom Noonan, at

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

. While at Billboard, Noonan introduced Howroyd to business executives, celebrities, travel, and

workplace diversity The business case for diversity stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. In the United States, the original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing from equal opportunit ...

. With an approximate budget of $1,000 Howroyd continued to focus on employment services and launched her own company, The ACT 1 Group, in a small

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

, office in 1978, with Tom Noonan as her first client. ActOne Group companies include AppleOne, All's Well, AT-Tech, ACT-1 Personnel Services, Agile-1, ACT-1Govt, A-Check Global, which provide personnel and recruiting services to different industries, and DSSI, which provides document management services. Howroyd is an ambassador of the Department of Energy's Minorities in Energy Initiative, a board member to numerous organizations including the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

's Workforce Initiative Board, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, WeConnect, National Utilities Diversity Council, Harvard Women's Leadership Board,

California Science Center The California Science Center (sometimes spelled California ScienCenter) is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California. ...

, Los Angeles Urban League and a member of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries of the U.S. Trade Representative and the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

. In May 2016 Howroyd received a key presidential appointment by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

as a member of the President's Board of Advisors on

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

. In 2017 she joined the Diversity Committee of the FCC. Since 2016, Howroyd has served on the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Board of Directors as an officer as Treasurer.

Bibliography

* ''The Art of Work – How to Make Work, Work for You!'' (2009) * ''Acting Up – Winning in Business and Life Using Down-Home Wisdom'' (2019)

Awards and honors

*2008 The BET Honors Entrepreneur Award - 2008 *2011

National Association of Women Business Owners The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10.6 million women-owned businesses so as to provide mutual support, share resourc ...

Hall of Fame Honoree - 2011 *2015 "National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame" Inductee - 2015 *2016

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...

A.G. Gaston Award - 2016 *2022 Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization Business Pioneer Award - 2022.Grace Meng (NY). "WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP DAY 2022". Congressional Record 117: 178 (November 17, 2022). p. E1163
https://www.congress.gov/117/crec/2022/11/17/168/178/CREC-2022-11-17-pt1-PgE1163-4.pdf
/ref> Howroyd received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization’s Business Pioneer Award at the United Nations in 2022, celebrating her as a trailblazer and innovator in her field. The prestigious award, also recognized by the US Congress, highlights women entrepreneurs and the meaningful impact they are having on the world.

References

External links

''Ask JBH'' – Personal Website

ActOne Group official website

"How I built a billion dollar business" BBC World News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howroyd, Janice 1952 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople African-American business executives American women business executives African-American women writers American business writers Women business writers American motivational speakers Women motivational speakers People from Tarboro, North Carolina North Carolina A&T State University alumni American women non-fiction writers African-American writers American women company founders American company founders American chief executives 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American businesspeople