2023
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
INTERNATIONAL
The work is far from over. America must still strive to be more equitable, inclusive and fair
Education: Honorary Doctorate, Roberts Wesleyan College, University of Rochester, MBA, BA Company Name: The Winters Group, Inc. Industry: Management Consulting Company CEO: Mary-Frances Winters Company Headquarters Location: Charlotte, NC Number of Employees: 17 Words you live by: Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good gets better and your better gets best. Who is your personal hero? Michelle Obama What book are you reading? Finding Me by Viola Davis What was your first job? Sales associate at a five and dime store Favorite charity: National Museum of African American History and Culture Interests/Hobbies: Travel, beach, reading Family: I am widowed. I have two adult children; a son who is a professor at Duke University and a daughter who is president of The Winters Group.
78
2023 Fourth Quarter
I decided to leave corporate America 40 years ago to start The Winters Group, Inc. I was subjected to microaggressions and sexual harassment and sadly, these issues are still all too prevalent in today’s workplace. I have dedicated my career as CEO of The Winters Group, a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice consulting firm trying to alleviate these issues for younger generations. My daughter and son both experienced racial discrimination when they were young and in their respective professions. I wrote Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit in 2020 because I was constantly hearing from Black millennials and Gen Zers’ in the workplace that they were fatigued from constantly
The one thing that I hope to see in the world is more acknowledgement that racism, sexism, and all of the other -isms are alive and well, and that we need to address the systems that allow them to perpetuate. needing to code switch, cover, and endure microaggressions. It saddened me that their stories were almost identical to the ones that I experienced and heard a generation before them. I have received much feedback that the book resonates with many and has been a source of inspiration and healing. The one thing that I hope to see in the world is more acknowledgement that racism, sexism, and all of the other -isms are alive and well, and that we need to address the systems that allow them to perpetuate. I am at the end of my work career and I really hoped that by now we could say that our society was more equitable than when I started. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I will never give up hope, though. We have some amazing young leaders who are taking up the mantle to continue to fight for justice.
www.diversityjournal.com
AWARD
Mary-Frances Winters