Janice Bryant Howroyd, the trailblazing founder and CEO of Act-1 Group, has made history as the first Black woman to own and operate a billion-dollar company.
Act-1 Group, a staffing solutions company founded in 1978, has grown into the largest Black female-owned business in the world, generating over $2 billion in annual revenue and employing more than 1,300 people globally.
Born in Tarboro, North Carolina, in the 1950s, Howroyd’s journey to success was not without its challenges.
As one of 11 children, she was among the first Black students to integrate her local high school. Armed with resilience and a vision, she started Act-1 with just $1,500, borrowing money from her family to fund the venture.
Her determination paid off, and today, Act-1 provides services ranging from talent acquisition to technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
Over the years, Howroyd’s leadership and innovation have earned her widespread recognition. In 2016, she was appointed to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities by former President Barack Obama, and she received the A.G. Gaston Lifetime Achievement Award from Black Enterprise that same year.
Despite her immense success, Howroyd remains committed to paying it forward, using her platform to inspire others.
“Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally,” she writes in her book The Art of Work: How to Make Your Work, Work for You, touching on the importance of authenticity in the business world.
Today, Janice Bryant Howroyd demonstrates that with resilience, innovation, and an unwavering belief in oneself, anything is possible.
