5 Women Who Paved The Way For The Modern Workplace

Here at Her Agenda, we celebrate and support the ambitious woman. But our ambitions wouldn’t be possible without the incredible women who have come before us.

This Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting trailblazers who have paved the path forward, allowing us to dream bigger and bolder. 

Although she was born enslaved to the name Isabella Bomfree in 1797, Sojourner Truth rose to be a fierce abolitionist and women’s rights activist. After experiencing a tumultuous youth, being enslaved, she eventually escaped in 1826 with her infant daughter, forcing her to leave her other children behind. Truth later sued for her five-year-old son’s freedom and won. Making her the first Black woman in US history to sue a white man and win.  She continued this advocacy, eventually giving her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech in 1851 that spoke about the exclusion of Black women in women’s rights spaces.

Ida B. Wells was a pioneering journalist known for her work against lynching. Despite how difficult it was for women in the workplace at the time, she rose through the ranks and became a prominent editor for publications such as Memphis’ “The Evening Star,” “Free Speech,” “Headlight,” and owner of “Conservator.” Wells also started a number of organizations for Black women’s freedom, including the Alpha Suffrage Club, the League of Colored Women, and the National Association of Colored Women. A year before her death, she became the first Black woman in Illinois to run for state senate.

Shirley Chisolm was born and raised in Barbados, eventually making her way to Brooklyn, which became her home for the duration of her life. She became a nursery school teacher, and this led her to be very involved in the community, even joining the NAACP. In 1964, she was elected to the New York state legislature and served two terms. In 1968, she became the first Black woman ever elected to Congress and served seven terms, pushing for women’s rights, children, and education. In 1972, she also became the first Black woman to run for president and is known for her slogan “Unbought and Unbossed.” 

Addie Wyatt was born in Mississippi, but she became a Chicagoan when her family moved during the great depression. She found work at a local factory applying to be a typist, but was denied and offered a position canning food because of segregation. After becoming outspoken at her job, she eventually became president of her local United Packinghouse Workers of America chapter, making her the first woman to do so. She eventually started working for the UPWA and helped to fight for equal pay for workers of all races and genders.  She continued this work by eventually founding the Coalition of Labor Union Women and the National Organization for Women. In 1975, alongside Representative Barbara Jordan, they became the first two Black women to be named Time Magazine’s woman of the year.

Kimberlè Crenshaw began her career as a law professor at UCLA not long after graduating from Harvard Law School. Her work has helped form legal frameworks, including critical race theory. She also created the term “intersectionality,” referring to multiple prejudices happening simultaneously. Both of these ideas have helped shape programs and policies that have helped form more inclusive workplaces for women. She founded the African American Policy Forum, an organization dedicated to efforts that help to eradicate structural inequalities. In 2014, AAPF created #sayhername to lift the stories of black women killed by the police.