Janice Bryant Howroyd is the founder of ActOne Group and was the first Black woman to establish and grow a billion-dollar business. As CEO, Janice has grown ActOne Group into the largest female- and minority-owned workforce management company in the US, providing human resources, workforce management, and procurement services worldwide. With nearly 50 years of leadership experience, Janice shares valuable insights on business management, human resources, and leadership. Her keynotes are ideal for leadership summits, networking events, fireside chats, and business growth conferences and ensure founders, CEOs, recruiters, and workforce leaders leave with actionable strategies they can apply to their own organisations.
Janice founded ActOne Group in 1978 with just $1500, famously stating it began with "a brain, a phone, and a phone book". In 1995, she scaled the business and opened digital and functional workforce portals in Europe and Asia. In 2013, Janice was appointed as a US Ambassador for Energy at the White House and was later selected by President Barack Obama to serve on the Presidential Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. From there, she joined the Federal Communications Commission's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment.
Over her career, Janice has received several industry awards and was the first-ever recipient of the BET Honors Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She has also won the Black Enterprise A.G. Gaston Award, received the BET HBCU Honors distinction, and been named Woman of the Year by Black Enterprise. In recognition of her achievements, she was also inducted into the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame and the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. Most recently, in 2026, she was named on the Global Power 150 Women in Staffing list and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards.
Alongside her speaking engagements, Janice shares valuable business advice in her two books, 'The Art of Work: Get the Shopping Cart, Show Up and Bow' and 'Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life with Grit, Gumption, and Glamour'. She has also been featured on 'How I Built This', in The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review, and hosted her own interview show, 'Ask JBH'. As a speaker, Janice offers practical insights on adapting to change, maintaining humanity in HR, and staying true to your values as a leader. Her notable speaking engagements include Essence Festival, HOPE Global Forums, Summit, SXSW, and the Inc. 5000 Conference. Inspire audiences to identify opportunities, overcome challenges, and empower employees with Janice Bryant Howroyd today!
Social Media
Books
The Art of Work – How to Make Work, Work for You!
'Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life with Grit, Gumption, and Glamour'
Janice Bryant Howroyd's official speaking topics are listed below:
Who Gets Left Behind When the Tools Change
The opportunity gap costs employers more than the wage gap does, and the data shows who is moving and who is stalling.
Building When the Tools Move Faster Than the Plan
Disruption is rarely invention. It is imagination applied to what already exists.
Designing the Future With More People in the Room
Products built by one kind of person tend to serve only that kind of person, which makes who builds them an economic question first.
Keeping the Humanity in Human Resources
Hiring is judgment, and judgment does not delegate. What it costs an organization to get that wrong is the whole talk.
Never Compromise Who You Are Personally
The difference between being good at what you do and being good at business, and why the second has to be learned on purpose.
- 2026 - Honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards
- 2026 - Named on the Global Power 150 Women in Staffing list
- 2025 - Received the BET HBCU Honors distinction
- 2022 - Named Woman of the Year by Black Enterprise
- 2019 - Published 'Acting Up: Winning in Business and Life with Grit, Gumption, and Glamour'
- 2017 - Appointed to the Federal Communications Commission's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment
- 2016 - Appointed by President Barack Obama to the Presidential Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- 2016 - Honoured with the Black Enterprise A.G. Gaston Award
- 2015 - Inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame
- 2014 - Officially recognised by Black Enterprise as the first Black woman in history to own and operate a multi-billion-dollar business
- 2013 - Appointed as a USA Ambassador for Energy at the White House
- 2011 - Inducted into the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame
- 2009 - Published 'The Art of Work: Get the Shopping Cart, Show Up and Bow'
- 2008 - First-ever recipient of the BET Honors Entrepreneur of the Year Award
- 1995 - Expanded ActOne Group internationally by opening digital and functional workforce portals in Europe and Asia
- 1978 - Founded ActOne Group with $1,500, scaling it into the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned staffing enterprise in the United States
How to hire Janice Bryant Howroyd
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Janice Bryant Howroyd for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
