Former Ebony and Jet Magazine Owner will speak at UAPB’s Women’s History Month Event
Pine Bluff, AR (March 1, 2021) – Journalist, publisher, and former chairman/ CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, formerly the parent company for Ebony and Jet magazines, Mrs. Linda Johnson Rice will be the featured speaker for the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership’s Annual Women’s History Month virtual event on Thursday, March 4 at 6:00 p.m via Zoom. The highly accomplished executive will discuss the focus of this year’s event, Having Our Sway: Women Gaining Power Through Purpose. It is free and open for the public to attend.
“We hope to celebrate and honor prestigious women by showcasing their contributions that helped pave the way for our future generations,” said Kara Brown, dean of student activities. “We are thrilled to have Mrs. Linda Johnson Rice speaking to our community.”
As the youngest and first African American woman CEO among the top five of the Black Enterprise 100s largest black-owned companies, Johnson Rice has been a ray of positivity on the black community with her strong and resilient leadership. She served as a board member for numerous organizations including most notably the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOMA) in Chicago, the Women’s Board for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Board of Director for Continental Bank Corporation, Magazine Publishers of America, Grub Hub Inc., Tesla Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corporation, University of Southern California, and the Women’s Board of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The event will begin with an opening ceremony featuring Raven Franklin, an honors student and the 91st Miss University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Franklin is part of the UAPB STEM Scholars and has represented the university’s STEM Academy on campus, state, and national conferences.
She said Johnson Rice is a living legacy to us all and an example of the strength women hold.
“A queen knows how to build her empire with the same stones that were thrown at her,” said Franklin. “The purpose of Women’s History Month is to increase consciousness and knowledge of women’s history and remember the contributions of notable and ordinary women.”
The free event will be hosted via Zoom webinar. Details for accessing the webinar can be found at uapb.edu.
