By Aqueila M. Lewis

Celebrating the rich tradition of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that is deeply rooted in the African American culture, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc., Oakland Bay Area Chapter, will host its 11th annual Madam C.J. Walker Business and Community Recognition Awards Luncheon on March 20 at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel.
    The purpose of the annual awards luncheon is to honor the first African American female self-made millionaire and business leader, Madam C.J. Walker.
    “We also recognize outstanding women in the Bay Area and the empowerment of women and young girls,” said Cathy Adams, NCBW/OBAC founding president emeritus. “It’s important for the entire Bay Area, and our focus is on the entrepreneurial spirit of Madam Walker and her ability to make it against all odds.”
    Dr. Brenda Wade, psychologist, television host, author and producer, will serve as mistress of ceremonies. The event will begin with a VIP reception, exhibits and music by Destiny, and will feature A’Lelia Bundles, the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker who will host a book-signing followed by a luncheon and awards program.
    This year’s keynote speaker is Faye Wattleton, president of the Center for the Advancement of Women, a nonprofit research, policy development and education institution created in 1995 to advance women’s equality and full participation in society.
    Also new this year is a financial seminar sponsored by Wells Fargo. Participants will learn how to build their financial knowledge, skills and the confidence to gain control of their finances. The seminar also will teach women ways to increase savings, reduce debt, manage their retirement funds and make informed decisions.
    More than 1,000 guests are expected to attend this year’s awards luncheon.
    The luncheon enables the Bay Area Chapter of NCBW to continue its outreach through the Sistahs Getting Real About HIV/AIDS initiative. In addition, the group provides scholarships to deserving students and awards grants to over 50 outstanding community-based organizations. During the luncheon, the chapter will also present an award to Tyler Jackson, winner of the Madam C.J. Walker Essay Contest and a role model who demonstrated leadership within the Positive Step program.

   “It’s an important opportunity to present to the community at large our work and the fruits of our labor,” said Lynell Bevels, program chair. “It’s also an opportunity for women to grow their own businesses.” This year’s honorees are:
• Corporate Award winner Melanie Teravalon, MD, director for the National Diversity Institute for Culturally Competent Care, which is a key component of Kaiser Permanente’s strategic plan to achieve the organization’s mission and leverage diversity to differentiate Kaiser Permanente in the marketplace;
• Advocacy Award winner Regina Jackson, executive director of the East Oakland Youth Development Center;
• Pioneer Award winner Sharon Williams, MD, who was the first African American female to be the chief resident and then elected as medical staff president of Children’s Hospital of Oakland; and
• Entrepreneur Award winner (posthumous) C. Dianne Howell, PhD, who was the publisher of the Black Business Listings and producer of the Oakland Black Expo.
   “I feel like this is my Oscar,” said Jackson. “I have been real fortunate to get this award. I have been participating in the luncheons since they first began, and it is the most exciting event every year. All the women in the organization are doing community service-type initiatives and any one of them could be getting this award. “Madam C.J. Walker was an icon for what she did and she was an innovator, creator, giver and teacher,” Jackson added. “She has been an inspiration … she was taking care of her business.”
   “Madam C.J. Walker represents the best in our ‘herstory’ as African American women: an entrepreneur, innovator, communicator, a women dedicated to making equality and the experience of living in a democracy a day-to-day experience,” Tervalon said. “I am honored that the long history of Kaiser Permanente’s work in diversity and inclusion is being highlighted through me in my current position through this award.
   “The women honored this year, and every year, uplift our collective spirits in a formal and loving manner, reminding us of the foremothers that have made our lives so full and so productive,” Tervalon continued. “I give prayerful thanks to the coalition for naming me in the midst of this. I add the name of my mother, Marie Jones Tervalon, in loving memory, to the host of foremothers up above who are watching us.”
    Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove on Dec. 23, 1867, on a Delta, La., plantation. The daughter of former slaves transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into one of the 20th century’s most successful, selfmade woman entrepreneurs.
    During the 1890s, Sarah began to suffer from a scalp ailment that caused her to lose most of her hair. She experimented with many homemade remedies and store-bought products, including those made by Annie Malone, another black woman entrepreneur.
    After changing her name to Madam C.J. Walker, she founded her own business and began selling Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula, which she claimed had been revealed to her in a dream.
    Walker sold her products door to door, demonstrating her scalp treatments in churches and lodges. In 1908, she temporarily moved her base to Pittsburgh, Penn., where she opened Lelia College to train Walker “hair culturists.”
    By the time Walker died, she had helped create the role of the 20th-century, self-made American businesswoman, established herself as a pioneer of the modern black hair care and cosmetics industry, and set standards in the black community for corporate and community giving.
    For more information about this year’s luncheon, call (510) 653-4085, email cdagroup@aol.com or visit www.onehundredblackwomen.com.