40 Rising Stars 40 & Under

Success is not luck. It’s what happens when preparation meets opportunity. And those who begin this preparation process out of the starting blocks tend to acquire key leadership assignments and professional reputations that, in some cases, exceed those of colleagues more than a decade their senior. The female entrepreneurs and corporate executives identified in our latest “editors’ choice” roster—40 Rising Stars 40 and Under—have made moves that have placed them on the path to power and success in business, all before their 41st birthdays.

In consulting the nation’s largest public and private corporations, major trade associations, established entrepreneurs, and senior executives over the past several months, our editorial research team discovered this cadre of remarkable women. They operate within a range of industries and disciplines, including science and technology; advertising, marketing, and public relations; finance; energy; food and beverages; and entertainment. Some run large or significant divisions of their companies and report to a chief executive or division head, others have launched and managed successful independent entities. These women are innovators and influencers, trailblazers and pioneers who reshaped and refreshed disciplines with cutting-edge processes, or transformed ideas into tangible, lucrative products or services.

We chose not to include managers or employees of law firms, unions, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies, or those employed in fashion or the arts, medicine, and education.

Having attained this much power and success early in their respective careers, there’s no telling what groundbreaking achievements the women who made this year’s list will accomplish in coming years. Judging from the drive that put them in their current positions, it appears as if nothing will stop them from reaching the pinnacle of global industry.

Tyra Banks, 38

CEO

Bankable Productions

Banks is a supermodel, media personality, actress, businesswoman, and author. After retiring from professional modeling in 2005, she put her energy into several original business endeavors. She formed her own production company, Bankable Productions, and produced projects for television and film, including America’s Next Top Model and The Tyra Banks Show. Last year, she launched typeF, a beauty website.

Banks founded TZONE, a foundation aimed at developing teenage girls' independence and self-esteem in the late 90s and penned Tyra’s Beauty Inside & Out, a book with the same goal. Most recently, she released Modelland, a fictional story about a young woman and her three friends who discover beauty in their individuality and uniqueness. Banks and fellow modelpreneur Iman appeared in the September 2006 issue of Black Enterprise.

Nia Batts, 27

Director, Strategic Partnerships & Social Impact

Viacom Inc.

Batts is responsible for optimizing marketing, cause marketing and corporate responsibility practices across the company while managing relationships with key partners and foundations to align market forces with positive social impact.

Major professional accomplishment: "Being included on this list. I grew up seeing my dad’s name in this magazine and now we both get to see mine."

Next career goal: A successful social impact partnership that benefits the students and greater community of Detroit.

Professional lesson learned: Choosing the right partners is often the key to success.

Advice for college grads: "You don’t have to plan your entire life at 22 but you do owe it to yourself to live presently and learn from the opportunities in front of you."

Major personal accomplishment: Having the privilege of meeting and working with the President and First Lady

Next personal goal: To climb Machu Picchu

Dream vacation: "I’m dying to visit the Tribewanted sustainable community at John Obey Beach in Sierre Leone. They’re doing really incredible work there: http://www.tribewanted.com/"

Dream car: "One that flies. They’ve been promising that for a while."

Phone: iPhone 4S

Laptop: Macbook Pro

Other tech tools: iPad "My favorite app is HootSuite. It’s vital given the rate at which we create and consume content."

Favorite beverage: “I’m addicted to the green juice from Blossom Du Jour in Chelsea. It will change your life.”

Angela Benton, 30

Founder, Publisher & CEO

Black Web Media L.L.C.

Service/product company provides: “Our main mission and goal—regardless of the product, whether it’s a conference or accelerator or a website—is really around African Americans and minorities in technology and really being a catalyst for change and the elevation of those individuals.”

Professional lesson learned: “Be persistent and keep personal and business relationships separate. As entrepreneur, work already bleeds over into your personal life so much anyway. If you’re not careful it starts to overtake your whole life.”

Dream vacation: “Bora Bora. I prefer hot over cold.”

Dream car: “I like concept cars. BMW just came out with the i8, which is pretty cool. I would really like an Aston Martin.”

Phone: iPhone 4 “I don’t have the 4S, which is surprising to some people. Typically, I don’t get the increment version.”

Laptop: “I have a 15’’ Macbook pro.”

Other tech tools: “Tablets, of course. I have an iPad and recently got a Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has really become my new BFF because it integrates so well with Google Docs. It also integrates well on Android technology.”

Favorite beverage: “I like all kinds of wine. In the summer I tend to drink Riesling and in the winter I really like syrah. Other than that, I drink a lot of water and cranberry juice.”

Nikki Bethel, 36

Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness

Home Box Office Inc.

Bethel oversees all executive and employee development, internal employee communications and initiatives, and integrated business solutions for the 2,000-plus workforce of the multibillion-dollar division of Time Warner. She worked in finance for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley before transitioning into the entertainment industry. “I came to HBO with a very different energy and spirit. I do feel that my background has helped me in my current position.”

Major personal accomplishment: Recently purchased a home in the Hamptons

Dream vacation: "I’d love to go to Malta."

Dream car: Aston Martin DB9 convertible

Phone: Blackberry

Favorite Beverage: Seltzer w/ lime

Leea Nash Bridgeman, 34

VP, Business Development

Churchill Downs Inc.

Major responsibilities: Both strategic and operational responsibilities for the diversified racing, gaming, and entertainment company. Leea is responsible for driving the growth and evolution of Churchill Down’s strategy, supporting merger and acquisition activity, identifying and vetting new business opportunities, incubating new businesses, and implementing high-priority initiatives across the company.

Major professional accomplishment: "Taking my training in and knowledge base of digital and applying it to help transform traditional businesses (i.e., television and movie studio, horse racing company)."

Professional lesson learned: "'All boats rise together.' Teams are what make corporations win--not individual people. Leadership is important and integral to success, but without a strong team great ideas would not get implemented."

Advice for college grads: "A) Do what you love. You will have your career for a long time, so spend it in an industry and a role that excites you. B) Build relationships. The relationships you form in the business world (senior, peer, junior) will be invaluable. These people will provide you with guidance, encouragement, opportunities, and wings for your dreams."

What has been a major personal accomplishment for you? "Meeting the love of my life and getting married. And building a strong relationship with the Lord."

What’s your dream vacation destination? "On my list was an overwater hut in French Polynesia. My husband and I were lucky enough to honeymoon in French Polynesia when we visited the islands of Bora Bora and Le Taha’a."

Phone: iPhone for work, Blackberry for personal use "And I may be in the minority here, but I also have a landline that I use when home."

Laptop: Dell for work, Lenovo at home

Other tech tools: iPad, Kindle "I used to ONLY buy hard cover books so it was a large step for me to move to the Kindle, but I love it. The ability to travel with all my books in my purse is fantastic."

Favorite store: "Papyrus, Hallmark, Tinyprints.com and my local stationary store. I LOVE stationary. In the world of technology, I think there is nothing nicer than receiving a hand-written note."

Favorite beverage: Hot: Tazo Berryblossom White Tea, Cold: Tazo Plum Pomegranate Iced Tea

Daphne Dufresne, 39

Co-founder & Managing Director

RLJ Equity Partners L.L.C.

Dufresne is responsible for sourcing, executing and monitoring investments. She is also involved in the day to day management of the firm, its employees, and fundraising. She sits on the firm’s four person Investment Committee which makes final investment decisions on every deal. Dufresne also is a member of the board of directors of portfolio companies LAI International, and chairman of the board of Media Source Inc. and Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company.

Major professional accomplishment: “Raising a first-time fund, generating more than three times the return for my limited partners.”

Professional lesson learned: “Ask not, want not. You must be your own advocate.”

Advice for college grads: “Hone your technical skills; become a whiz at financial models.”

Dream vacation: “Wonderful tropical weather, nice beaches, piña coladas, and cultural nightlife. I love to dance!”

Dream car: “Still a convertible. I don’t like all the wind or heat on a hot day but you can’t beat the look.”

Major personal accomplishment: “Marrying the love of my life and producing three fantastic children.”

Phone: “I love my iPhone 4”

Laptop: Dell

Other tech tools: Nikon D90 camera

Favorite beverage: Apple martini

Rosalyn Durant, 35

Vice President

ESPNU

Durant was promoted to vice president of ESPNU in April 2008 and her role was expanded in 2011 to include ESPNHS. Her responsibilities include setting the strategic direction for the 24-hour college sports network, overseeing all programming and leading the inter-departmental team responsible for the continued growth and development of the network, as well as ESPNHS, and all related multimedia initiatives. She was previously vice president of programming and acquisitions.

Durant is responsible for maximizing the value of ESPNU properties across the company’s multimedia assets, including television, Internet, radio, print, broadband and wireless. Her duties extend to regular interaction with all facets of ESPN’s business: remote and studio production, customer marketing and sales, affiliate sales and marketing, consumer marketing, research, legal, communications and finance. She is also an active participant within the ESPN mentor advisory team and serves on various additional company-wide committees.

Durant serves on the board of directors of the T. Howard Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in the multimedia and entertainment industries. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in marketing.

Amy Ellis-Simon, 39

Head of Specialty Sales and Americas Head of Corporate Access

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

A few months ago, Ellis-Simon was named head of specialty sales and Americas head of corporate access in the equities division at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, focused on delivering value-added, alpha-creating opportunities to clients. One of the biggest professional accomplishments for this veteran, who was included on black enterprise’s 75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street list, has been “working on a team that gets recognized for its excellence, working on this platform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch through some turbulent times and an interesting merger, and coming out with a platform that we’re all pretty proud of.”

Major personal accomplishment: "Maintaining a strong relationship with my parents and sisters."

Next personal goal: "To incorporate more time to do more personal reading."

Dream vacation: "I tend to travel to Montego Bay."

Phone: Blackberry

Favorite store: Target and Home Goods

Kathryn Finney, 35

Founder, Creator & CEO

TBF Group L.L.C.

Finney, perhaps best known for her site The Budget Fashionista, took to the Web in the summer of 2003. Primarily in an effort to stay in touch with friends, the Rutgers and Yale graduate started writing about her shopping experiences before the term blog had taken off. She caught the attention of the Associated Press and the news service circulated an article about The Budget Fashionista in January 2004. Her site crashed the next day. And now 600,000 unique visitors a month clamor for her take on fashion advice.

Finney has since acquired several trademarks in addition to her flagship site, and she’s currently working on a number of multimedia projects such as Jelly TV and Mighty Beauty Blog in addition to consulting, public speaking, and serving as an editor-at-large for BlogHer.com.

Dream vacation: Patagonia and Antarctica

Phone: Blackberry, iPhone 4S, iPad with Skype

Laptop: A Macbook, a Dell and a netbook

Other tech tools: "I have a digital camera, a Canon DLSR. Photography is a hobby of mine."

Favorite store: "Hmm, that’s like choosing between children. There’s a store called ASOS.com. It’s a British site that now has a U.S. presence. Very on-trend, fashion-forward pieces. They have a plus-size section called Curve and it’s excellent!" Also, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom and Target.

Favorite beverage: A glass of seltzer water with a splash of cranberry juice, a splash of orange juice, and a lime.

Sharon Fortune Bowden, 40

Information Technology Architect

IBM Global Business Services

Fortune Bowden is an information technology (IT) professional for IBM based in New York. She has worked as an information technology professional for 15 years.

Prior to her current position, she held the position as a Principle IT Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, LLC. In 2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting was acquired by IBM and Fortune Bowden took on the role of an IT Architect, where she helps clients strategically align their business goals and technology usage to 1) advance their industry, 2) improve product quality/service, and 3) produce internal cost savings with automation.

Fortune Bowden has built a good reputation in the technical community based on her strong background in data center as well as infrastructure planning and delivery. She has designed technical assessment tools and designed IT governance models to monitor the effectiveness of technology for specified business process. She also designed the underlying technology environments for the systems and routinely advised the executive teams about the technology trade-offs, challenges, and alternatives.

Fortune Bowden earned a dual Master’s degree from DeVry University, Keller Graduate Management School, in Program Management/Information Systems Management. She has also received the "Technology Rising Star" award from the Career Communications Group. Fortune Bowden is a proud and productive community activist, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and a board member of the Ivy Rose Foundation and the Brooklyn Music School.

Marve Frazier, 31

Chief Creative Officer, Moguldom Media Group

CEO, Bossip.com

As chief creative officer, Frazier manages the operations of all websites under the Moguldom Media Group umbrella, including Bossip, Madame Noire, The Atlanta Post, Hip-Hop Wired, 24Wired, and StyleBlazer. Moreover, as CEO she oversees the editorial direction of Bossip.com, Moguldom’s flagship presence. Frazier joined Bossip.com, a startup launched in April 2006, in September of that year. At the time, its domain name cost less than $10. Today, after a little more than five years, she says the site has grown from 1 million unique visitors and 20 million page views a month to 2.5 million and 50 million, respectively. The company has more than 40 employees with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. “We have a great team. I appreciate being able to work with people as creative as I am and actually growing the company from nothing to what it is today.”

Dream vacation: "I really want to take my 6-year-old son to Africa."

Dream car: "Just something fast."

Phone: iPhone

Favorite store: "I like little boutique-type places. I like Target, too."

Favorite beverage: Johnnie Walker Black Label

Ivy Grant, 37

Associate Principal

Edelman Consulting

Global public relations firm Edelman brought Grant on board from Polo Ralph Lauren in June 2011 to build its management consulting arm, using her 13-year background to help the $300 million PR giant develop more expansive and lucrative relationships with clients. The Cornell and New York University graduate is charged with helping Edelman restructure its organization by adding organizations such as the Ohio State University to its client roster, hiring new talent, and creating new business strategies.

Major personal accomplishment: "I bought my dream home a few years ago."

Next personal goal: "I decided to get my act together health-wise and hired a personal trainer."

Dream vacation: "I’ve always been one of those people who wanted to go on one of those extreme eco tours."

Dream car: "A hybrid convertible Mustang would be my ideal! Something cool and good for the environment at the same time."

Phone: Blackberry

Laptop: A Macbook and an IPad

Favorite store: "Nordstrom, because of their great shoe selection."

Favorite beverage: "I don’t drink alcohol but I love Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider."

$Ajilli Hardy, Ph.D., 33 Energy Systems Engineer General Electric Co. Hardy is a thermal systems engineer charged with building models and experiments and testing them with the goal of developing new ways to harvest unconventional energy to convert it to a usable form. She’s also responsible for developing technology that cleans hard-to-treat process water from hydraulic fracturing sites. Hardy’s recent projects included building and testing an absorption chiller for the Army, in which waste heat from ground generators cools tents in hot weather conditions. Hardy offers this advice for those who want to pursue a professional career in the sciences: “If you are in school and pursuing a technical career, make use of internship opportunities to gain as much exposure as you can. Try everything,” she says, noting her own internships around the globe with companies such as BMW, Boeing, and the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics. Dream vacation: "I think I’d like to spend a good month in Africa--someplace very remote, where there may not be any infrastructure for energy. And I’d like to learn as much as I can about what resources are there and what would be needed in order to harvest energy using those resources." Dream car: "The Mission Impossible car (BMW i8). I’ll take two of those." Phone: Droid Razr "I like the large screen." Favorite store: Victoria’s Secret "They have awesome sweater dresses." Favorite beverage: "Bolthouse Farms has great smoothies. I really like the Green Goodness one. I don’t drink alcohol."$