NABFEME

The National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment, Inc. (NABFEME, Inc) was founded by Johnnie Walker in 1999. Walker, a 30-year entertainment industry veteran, has held Senior positions at the Island Def Jam Music Group and DreamWorks Records. Following many music and entertainment business conferences, Ms Walker noted that most of these events rarely featured a female perspective or produced content that provided career support for women. Many entertainment companies had few women of color in positions of power. It was time to for a change, time to create a vehicle that would work to support and increase the awareness of women in entertainment, raise the profile of women of color in entertainment and provide opportunities for women to network, learn, empower themselves and have access to industry leaders. Once the concept for the organization was formalized and the business and marketing plans were developed, Walker recruited several other women who represented various disciplines within the music and entertainment industry to become a part of the founding board… and NABFEME, the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment was born. The organization was formed to create a support and empowerment resource base for professional women of color in music and entertainment. Based in New York, the focus of the organization would be economic and career development for its members. The first meetings were held via teleconference and included Toni Bell, Michelle Madison, Gwen Priestly, Vanessa Barryer, Ramona Harrison-Hardy and NABFEME Founder, Johnnie Walker. The original six were visionary women who understood the importance of lending their time, energy and experience to creating an organization that would be dedicated to empowering, mentoring and promoting women of color in entertainment. Today there are 15 NABFEME Networks and satellite offices nationwide with over 2500 members and associates.