Three of the six Black women who have ever run a Fortune 500 company were in the same Florida ballroom on October 8. Ursula Burns, who broke that barrier at Xerox, received the Icon Award. Karen S. Carter, who became chief executive of Dow in July, received the Trailblazer Award. Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA stood with them for the photograph. The occasion was the fifth anniversary of BECA, an alliance of C-suite marketing and marketing-adjacent executives, at its Manifest Awards & Symposium at The St. Regis Bal Harbour.
BECA was founded in 2021 by Jerri DeVard and 25 C-suite executives, and its premise is pipeline. Senior leaders share what they know and pull the next class up behind them. The awards night doubled as a graduation: 17 participants completed the Playbook Class of 2026, the alliance’s flagship development program, co-led by Deloitte.
The honorees
Burns, the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, now works as a founding partner of Integrum, chairwoman of Teneo, and chair of the Ford Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Carter joined Dow in 1994 and rose across three decades at the company, serving as chief operating officer before becoming its first Black woman chief executive this summer. Black Enterprise, the magazine Earl G. Graves Sr. founded in 1970 to document Black business and wealth creation, received the inaugural Beacon of Light Award, accepted by his son, president and CEO Earl “Butch” Graves Jr. Procter & Gamble took the Corporate Champion Award for leadership development and mentorship, accepted by Marchoe Northern, its president of North America Fabric Care. Bozoma Saint John and Chris Foster, both BECA founding members, co-hosted the evening.
“As we celebrate five years of BECA, I’m incredibly proud of the community we’ve built and the impact we continue to make together,” DeVard said. “This year’s honorees represent the very best of leadership, as individuals and organizations that have broken barriers, opened doors and created opportunities for others to succeed. The Manifest Awards are not only about recognizing extraordinary achievements, but also about inspiring and investing in the next generation of leaders.”
The number that framed the night
Six Black women have led Fortune 500 companies in the list’s history. Half of them were at the St. Regis on the same evening, two holding awards and the third running TIAA.
Five years ago, BECA was 26 people in a founding meeting. Its anniversary party now convenes the shortest list in corporate America.
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