Janice Bryant Howroyd

Janice Bryant Howroyd (born September 1, 1952) is an entrepreneur, educator, ambassador, businesswoman, author, and mentor. She is founder and chief executive officer of The ActOne Group, the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned personnel company founded in the U.S. Howroyd is most well known as being the first African American woman to build and own a billion dollar company.

Early years

Born September 1, 1952 as Janice Bryant in Tarboro, North Carolina, the fourth of 11 children in her family. As a teen, she was one of the first African American students to desegregate her town's previously segregated high school. Howroyd was educated at North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned a degree in English.

Entrepreneur

In 1976, Howroyd moved to Los Angeles, California, and worked as a temporary secretary for her brother-in-law Tom Noonan at Billboard magazine.

While at Billboard, Noonan introduced Howroyd to business executives, celebrities, travel, diversity in the workplace, and decision-making in ways she had not previously been exposed to.

Armed with industry experience and knowledge, and with little more than $1,000 Howroyd continued to focus on employment services and launched her own company, The ACT•1 Group, in a small Beverly Hills, California office in 1978, with Tom Noonan as her first client.

Companies

According to Bloomberg L.P., "ActOne Group, Inc. provides employment, workforce management, and procurement solutions to Fortune 500 organizations, local and mid-market companies, and government agencies." ActOne Group companies include AppleOne, All's Well, AT-Tech, ACT-1 Personnel Services, Agile-1, ACT-1Govt, ACheck GLobal, which provide personnel and recruiting services to different industries, and DSSI, which provides document management services.

Leadership

Howroyd is an ambassador of the Department of Energy's Minorities in Energy Initiative, a board member to numerous organizations including the United States Department of Labor's Workforce Initiative Board, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, WeConnect, National Utilities Diversity Council, Harvard Women's Leadership Board, California Science Center, Los Angeles Urban League and a member of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries of the U.S. Trade Representative and the United States Department of Commerce. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

In May 2016 Howroyd received a key presidential appointment by President Barack Obama as a member of the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In 2017 she joined the Diversity Committee of the FCC.

Philanthropy

Howroyd, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners, is "an individual who has had a significant impact on the well-being of her community and who has had the foresight and generosity to recognize that her success is best savored when she pays it forward." Via scholarship funding and personal service, she supports universities (Harvard University, University of Southern California, California State University, San Bernardino and her own alma mater, North Carolina A&T), women's support organizations (WBENC, WPO, The Trusteeship), Minority serving organizations (NMSDC, Urban League, LAEDC, NUDC and more), and is a mentor to others through personal work and media engagements.

She is a member of the International Trade Advisory Commission Board, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporate Board, and the Women's Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government/Harvard University.

Author

Howroyd has been a contributing writer for publications such as Forbes and HuffPost , has recorded several audiobooks, and written two books.

The Art of Work – How to Make Work, Work for You!

Howroyd released her first book The Art of Work in July of 2009. The book focused on advice for finding and keeping the right job.

Acting Up – Winning in Business and Life Using Down-Home Wisdom

Howroyd released her second book, Acting Up, in 2019. In Acting Up, Howroyd tells more of her personal life story and shares her advice for entrepreneurs.

Acting Up met positive reaction by critics and press upon its release from publications such as Fast Company and Black Enterprise. Inc. (magazine) included the book as one of their “8 Books For Entrepreneurs Who Insist On Doing Things Differently”.

Awards and honors

• 2008 The BET Honors Entrepreneur Award - 2008
• 2011 National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame Honoree - 2011
• 2015 "National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame" Inductee - 2015
• 2016 Black Enterprise A.G. Gaston Award - 2016