On The Beat: Nabfeme Readies Its First Shero Awards

The National Assn. of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment (NABFEME) was founded earlier this year by president Johnnie Walker. Walker, also the VP of promotion for Def Jam, says the group now has more than 140 members and is growing. The organization was created to aid the career advancement of the black female executive, but it has also opened its doors to young women just starting out who wish to network with women who have established themselves in the entertainment industry.
One of the early goals of the group, which officially held its first meeting in February at the Urban Network Power Summit, was to create an event in which "we could honor those sisters who built the foundation of opportunity," says Walker. Such an event is scheduled for Nov. 19 at this year's National Black Programmers Coalition conference in New Orleans as "the Shero Salute."
Walker says the Shero Salute will honor women "who have made significant marks in the music and entertainment industry, women whose courage, strength, and foresight laid the groundwork for the opportunities we . . . enjoy today."
This year's recipients include Elektra CEO Sylvia Rhone, Universal executive VP/GM Jean Riggins, 40-year industry veteran Mike Bernado, WQBH Detroit owner/GM Martha Jean Steinberg, Radio One CEO Cathy Hughes, Sister 2 Sister editor/publisher Jamie Foster Brown, Yab Yum Entertainment CEO Tracey Edmonds, Rondor Music International senior VP Brenda Andrews, Trawick Group senior VP Sharon Heywood, NBPC president and radio veteran Irene Johnson-Ware, consultant and veteran PD Pam Wells, Vanessa Williams, and Oprah Winfrey.
In addition to these pioneering women, NABFEME will pay tribute to black female executives who are making strides today. They include AMFM director of urban programming Helen Little; Hilda Williams, national director of R&B promotions for Virgin Records; Desarai Downs, station manager of WLJM Lima, Ohio; and Jodi Williams, VP of R&B promotion at RCA Records; Charita Brittneum-Carter, national director of promotion at Epic; and Legacy Films owner Michelle Colbert.
"It has been our strategy thus far to promote and build the organization. The best way for us to accomplish that has been by partnering with already existing events and conferences. By holding the first Shero event during the NBPC, we're closing out our first year on a positive note and gearing up for 2000, in which we will have another Shero event during the Impact confab. Then, in August 2000, we'll hold the first NABFEME retreat for black female executives," says Walker.
Walker adds that the retreat will be less like an industry conference and more like a workshop, covering everything from professional concerns to health, family, and relationships. "It's about solving our problems, not just complaining about them. And one of the things we plan to do, as we will with the panel we are hosting at NBPC, called "Isms In The Workplace,' will be, in addition to your peers and co-workers as panelists, [to have] specialists from outside the industry who can be objective."
For more information on NABFEME, check out their Web site at www.womenet.org.