BOSTON (AP) 鈥 Regina Lawless hit a professional high at 40, becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion for Instagram. But after her husband died suddenly in 2021, she pondered whether she had neglected her personal life and what it means for Black woman to succeed in the corporate world.
While she felt supported in the role, 鈥渢here wasn鈥檛 the willingness for the leaders to take it all the way,鈥 Lawless said. 鈥淩eally, it鈥檚 the leaders and every employee that creates the culture of inclusion.鈥
This inspired her venture, Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives to commiserate and coach each other on how to deal with 鈥 misogyny experienced by Black women 鈥 or being the only person of color in the C-suite.
鈥淚鈥檓 now determined to help other women, particularly women of color and Black women, to see that we don鈥檛 have to sacrifice ourselves for success. We can find spaces or create our own spaces where we can be successful and thrive,鈥 said Lawless, who is based in Oakland, California.
Many women in Lawless' group have no workplace peers, making them the 鈥淥nlys鈥 鈥 the only Black person or woman of color 鈥 which can lead to feelings of loneliness or isolation.
鈥淕etting together helps us when we go back and we鈥檙e the 鈥榦nly-lonelies鈥 in a lot of our organizations," Lawless said.
With raging, Black women looking to climb the corporate ladder face a more hostile landscape than ever. Aside from having to constantly prove themselves and talk in a manner that can鈥檛 be labeled as angry or emotional, obtaining top managerial positions doesn鈥檛 stop the double dilemma of racial and gender pay gaps. All this adds up to disproportionate representation of Black female senior leadership.
as Harvard's first Black president following accusations of antisemitism and plagiarism was just the latest in a revolving door of Black women who have been aggressively questioned or abandoned after achieving a career pinnacle.
Black female professionals also were hit hard when an administrator at a historically Black college in Missouri accused the school's white president of then took her own life. This led some to build networking groups and mentorships. For others it triggered an exodus to entrepreneurship and reinvention.
In Boston, Charity Wallace, 37, a biotech professional, and Chassity Coston, 35, a middle school principal, reflected on their own career struggles in light of Gay's ordeal. Wallace said she was being more cognizant of her mental health, and that's where their young Black professionals group, sorority sisters and family come in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a constant fight of belonging and really having your girlfriends or your homegirls or my mom and my sister. I complain to them every day about something that鈥檚 going on at work,鈥 Wallace said. 鈥淪o having that circle of Black women that you can really vent to is important because, again, you cannot let the things like this sit. We鈥檝e been silenced for too long.鈥
Coston said she mourned Gay's resignation and, fearing something similar could happen to her, she reconsidered her future in education. But she didn't want to give up.
鈥淵es, we鈥檙e going to continue to be scorned as Black people, as Black women. It鈥檚 going to continue to happen. But we can鈥檛 allow that," Coston said. 鈥淚鈥檓 speaking from my strength right now because that wasn鈥檛 always how I felt in my stages of grief. We have to continue to fight just like Rosa (Parks), just like Harriet (Tubman)."
Gay struggled despite her resume full of accomplishments, Wallace said.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how she felt trying to do that and getting all these accolades, her degrees that she has, the credentials, and it just seemed like even that was not enough for her to stay," Wallace said.
The backlash to DEI efforts is only amplified with clashes over identity politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones' tenure bid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , a collection of essays on race. The 2022 confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, drew criticism for their .
President Joe Biden emphatically stating he only would consider a Black woman for the high court deepened resentment toward DEI, said Johnny Taylor, CEO of The Society for Human Resource Management.
鈥淐ontrast and compare a CEO standing in front of his workplace or her workplace saying, 鈥業鈥檓 only gonna consider, the next candidates will only be this,鈥" Taylor said. "That created some real tension.鈥
Black women are questioning whether it's even worth trying for top positions, said Portia Allen-Kyle, chief advisor at social justice organization Color of Change. Extreme scrutiny and online vitriol are high prices to pay.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e heard from quite a few Black women 鈥 family, friends and otherwise 鈥 is a little bit of feeling of frustration at the idea that excellence is not enough,鈥 Allen-Kyle said. 鈥淭he 鈥榃ork twice as hard, be twice as good ... maybe you'll be able to be accepted on your merit.' That lesson that maybe that's not the case is hard and frustrating and disappointing all around.鈥
The number of Black women in the workforce is in danger of shrinking because of a lack of support and opportunities, according to advocates.
Black women comprise 7.4% of the U.S. population but they occupy only 1.4% of C-suite positions and 1.6% of senior vice-president roles, according to a 2020 report from Lean In, 鈥淭he State of Black Women in Corporate America." U.S. Census data shows Black women working year-round and full-time in 2021 made 69 cents for every dollar a white man got. Meanwhile, white women made 80 cents on the dollar.
Lawless, who left Instagram/Meta in August, thinks more Black women will decide to be their own boss rather than enter a traditional workplace.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a chilling effect and you鈥檙e going to see more Black women pivot and go into entrepreneurship, which we鈥檙e already doing at higher rates,鈥 Lawless said. 鈥淐orporations have a real problem. They鈥檝e lost more women at the director and above level since the pandemic.鈥
Even self-made businesses cannot avoid DEI resistance. , a small venture capital firm, is embroiled in a lawsuit accusing a grant program for Black women-owned companies of discrimination. The litigation has scared away potential investors, according to the firm's founders.
Job openings for diversity officers and similar positions have declined in recent months. The combined share of venture capital funding for businesses owned by Black and Latina women has dipped back to less than 1% after briefly surpassing that threshold 鈥 at 1.05% 鈥 in 2021, according to the nonprofit advocacy group digitalundivided.
Stephanie Felix, of Austin, Texas, just started her own DEI consulting firm in January. It's not something the 36-year-old, who worked in DEI for company review website Glassdoor, initially saw for herself.
鈥淧eople say there鈥檚 risk in leaving but there鈥檚 also a lot of risk in staying,鈥 Felix said.
Colleagues, family and even Felix herself had reservations about her career leap. But she said she has too often seen DEI hires go from 鈥渙ffice pet to office threat.鈥 Their arrival was heralded as a new chapter, but senior leaders wouldn't come through with promised resources or authority to effect change.
鈥淚 applaud women that choose to step away and choose themselves. I applaud myself for it too,鈥 Felix said. "Even though it鈥檚 not easy, it gives you more sovereignty over your life which is, in my mind, definitely worth it.鈥
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Associated Press business writer Alexandra Olson in New York contributed to this report.
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Terry Tang reported from Phoenix. She is a member of the AP's Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at .
