Banker who saw his neighborhood lose a bank is now investing $20M in Detroit
When Kala Gibson was 12 years old, he was already learning what it meant to be a banker. He had a paper route. He was making his own money and putting it in the bank, learning early about saving, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Then one day, he went to his neighborhood branch and found the doors closed. His mother told him there was another branch around the corner. But Gibson noticed something else. “When that branch left the neighborhood, everything else left,” he recalled. “So it went from
Lawyer Ashley Kirkwood hangs up a new shingle to assist Black women in business
Former trial lawyer Ashley Kirkwood is preparing to welcome 1,000 Black women entrepreneurs and professionals to Black Women Sell Live® 2026, a three-day sales and business conference taking place Sept. 25–27 at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta. Kirkwood left a $300,000 partner-track legal career to become an entrepreneur and founded the sales training company Speak Your Way To Cash® in 2018. A Northwestern Law graduate, she previously worked as a federal trial attorney and at Kirkland & Ellis. Her first Speak Your Way To Cash Live event attracted just
Meet the maverick who left her ‘good government job’ to grow a lucrative rental company
Lakeesha Bussey, a retired Army veteran, former financial analyst, and longtime federal employee, is now the founder of Park Play Party, a six-figure party rental and children’s entertainment company. She is also the founder of Bussey Events, an event venue company with locations in Maple Heights and Northfield, Ohio, and Party Side Hustle, an education platform created to help others build profitable party businesses. She started ParkPlayParty with a vision of making children’s celebrations easier and more memorable for families. Her company provides character entertainment, bounce houses, concessions, tables
Tribute to a global visionary: The extraordinary life of Dr. Karl Dwight Gregory
Dr. Sheila T. Gregory There are lives whose influence is so expansive that telling their story means telling the story of a city, a movement, and a nation. Dr. Karl Dwight Gregory, born March 26, 1931, stands among the most consequential yet understated figures in American public life. Economist, civil rights strategist, educator, institution builder, soldier, and global advocate, he dedicated his life to advancing justice through intellectual rigor, community service, and institution building. His journey connected Detroit, Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean, yet
Simone Price of Center for Employment Opportunities announced as 2026-2027 Obama Foundation Leader
Simone Price today announced her acceptance to The Obama Foundation’s Leaders program, joining more than 150 changemakers from around the world in the 2026-2027 class. Following a competitive selection process, Simone will be one of 50 Leaders participating in the Leaders USA program, where they will receive training in values-based leadership development to strengthen their skills and scale their work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Price is the director of advocacy and organizing at the Center for Employment Opportunities, a nonprofit organization where she leads advocacy and
Chicago’s Lyle Logan’s dedication to service is created for times like these
After 45 years in the banking industry, former Vice Chairman of Northern Trust Lyle Logan retired in 2025 to enjoy a life of service on seeral different fronts. His professional career may be coming to a close, but his commitment to the community remains as strong as ever. As a lifelong Chicagoan, Lyle was raised in a family that gave back. “My parents were teachers, and we were actively involved in the community. We ended up working with organizations that had been supported by United Way,” Lyle said. Lyle
From Janitorial Work to CEO: Steve Hightower Shares His Success Story
Stephen “Steve” Hightower founded Hightowers Petroleum Co. in 1982, continuing a family legacy of entrepreneurism that began in 1957 with the establishment of the family’s cornerstone business. From those humble beginnings and through persistence, drive and determination, Steve methodically began to grow his wholesale fuel distribution business into an energy solutions enterprise that today is recognized throughout North America for its customer service, integrity, creative fuel distribution model and expert handling of complex upstream and downstream issues. Hightower got his start working in his family’s janitorial business. Decades later,
Ashley LaLonde Talks Making History, ‘Dirty Dancing’ and Returning to Chicago
For Ashley LaLonde, returning to Chicago is a homecoming celebration. LaLonde, who previously performed in the national tour of Hamilton, is returning to the James M. Nederlander Theatrethis September with the new stage production of Dirty Dancing: The Musical. In the production, she plays Elizabeth, a brand-new character created specifically for this adaptation. The role also marks another meaningful chapter, as she made history in 2019 as the first Black woman and one of the first six women cast in Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals. In a conversation with The Chicago Defender, LaLonde opened
Kwanza Jones makes history as first Black woman to become majority owner of MLB franchise
By Noral Parham History was made in Major League Baseball this August as Kwanza Jones and her husband, José E. Feliciano, were officially introduced as the new principal owners of the San Diego Padres following a record-breaking $3.9 billion transaction. With the unanimous approval of the league’s owners, Jones became the first Black woman to be a majority owner in an MLB franchise, marking a historic milestone in professional baseball.Feliciano also marked a significant league milestone in the transaction, becoming the second Latino majority owner in baseball
Meet the Black Woman Leading Maryland’s Public Defenders
A first-generation Haitian American, Natasha Dartigue reflects on faith, representation, poverty, public safety, and why communities — not just police — shape justice. by Rev. Dorothy Boulware Natasha Dartigue never expected to spend three decades defending people accused of crimes. After graduating from Howard University School of Law, she imagined returning home to New York after a few years in Baltimore. Instead, a year-long clerkship with Judge Roger Brown, the late Baltimore Circuit Court jurist, changed the direction of her life and placed her on a path of public service. Late