Entrepreneur Tara Dowdell, president of the marketing firm Tara Dowdell Group, which describes itself as being driven “by a passion for helping socially conscious businesses, brands and organizations grow,” is taking on a new venture. It recently launched a speakers bureau featuring several great minds, a majority of them black, and all of whom have overcome tremendous adversity to build successful businesses and careers.
“I am excited and honored to have this exceptional roster of speakers, all of whom have empowering and inspirational stories to share,” Dowdell, a University of Virginia alum who is a former contestant on The Apprentice, and a political commentator who often appears on MSNBC and Fox 5 New York, said in a press release. “I founded this bureau because I saw a demand for speakers who could inspire and inform with practical, relatable and actionable presentations. Additionally, many speakers bureaus are cost prohibitive for smaller organizations, so I am proud to offer a more accessible option.”
Dowdell’s speakers bureau is unique because there are not many black women with speakers bureaus, and not many speakers bureaus with a roster of speakers of whom a majority are black.
Other speakers in the bureau include Adenah Bayoh, CEO of Adenah Bayoh and Companies, which includes IHOP franchises in the New Jersey cities of Irvington and Paterson; Brenda Blackmon, the Emmy Award-winning New York television news icon; and Charles Way, former fullback of the New York Giants.