Janice Bryant Howroyd

Early years

Born September 1, 1952 as Janice Bryant in Tarboro, North Carolina, Howroyd was the fourth of eleven children in her family. As a teen, Howroyd was one of the first African American students to desegregate her town's previously segregated high school.

CNBC recounted "You don't become the first African-American woman to own a billion-dollar company overnight. The journey of ACT-1 Group founder and CEO Janice Bryant Howroyd began during the battles over civil rights. When Howroyd enrolled in an integrated school in the Deep South, she said, her teacher spoke about how blacks were well suited for slavery. Howroyd, 63, recounts forcefully biting the inside of her jaw in reaction so as to not shed a tear, for crying could seem like accepting defeat."

Entrepreneur

In 1976, Howroyd moved to Los Angeles, California and worked as a temporary secretary for her brother-in-law Tom Noonan at Billboard magazine.

While at Billboard, Tom Noonan introduced Howroyd to business executives, celebrities, travel, diversity in the workplace and decision-making in ways she had not previously been exposed to.

Armed with industry experience and knowledge, and with little more than $1,000.00, Howroyd continued to focus on employment services and launched her own company, The ACT•1 Group, in a small Beverly Hills, California office in 1978 with Tom Noonan as her first client.

Companies

According to Bloomberg L.P., "ACT-1 Group, Inc. provides employment, workforce management, and procurement solutions to Fortune 500 organizations, local and mid-market companies, and government agencies." As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Howroyd is at the helm and actively cultivates relationships in order to guide, support and resource her organization. Her work motto is "Discipline ain't a dirty word."

Howroyd's companies under Act-1 Group include AppleOne, a global provider of dedicated hiring advisors, personalized talent acquisition, secure data environment, specialized recruiting consultancy and seasonal workforce augmentation; All's Well, focused on healthcare staffing; AT-Tech, a technical recruitment and professional staffing services company; ACT•1 Personnel Services, offering boutique talent recruitment teams that service niche markets; Agile•1, a business process outsourcing company focused on global workforce and procurement solutions, proprietary technology, secured data environment, industry specialists and customized solutions; ACT•1Govt, providing a wide range of services to federal government customers; ACheck Global, a global screening service offering background services, drug screening, compliance support secure cloud computing and electronic I-9 and e-Verify; and, DSSI, a full-service content and document management solutions provider for commercial, entertainment, government, and healthcare companies.

Operating in 19 countries including Canada, Netherlands, India, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States, Act-1 Group professionals bring corporate HR initiatives to local and global markets.

Leadership

Howroyd is an ambassador of the Department of Energy's Minorities in Energy Initiative, a board member to numerous organizations including the United States Department of Labor's Workforce Initiative Board, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, WeConnect, National Utilities Diversity Council, Harvard Women's Leadership Board, California Science Center, Los Angeles Urban League and a member of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services and Finance Industries of the U.S. Trade Representative and the United States Department of Commerce. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

In May 2016 Howroyd received a key Presidential appointment by President Barack Obama as a member of the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Philanthropy

Howroyd, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners, is "an individual who has had a significant impact on the well-being of her community and who has had the foresight and generosity to recognize that her success is best savored when she pays it forward." Via scholarship funding and personal service, she supports universities (Harvard University, University of Southern California, California State University, San Bernardino and her own alma mater, North Carolina A&T), women's support organizations (WBENC, WPO, The Trusteeship), Minority serving organizations (NMSDC, Urban League, LAEDC, NUDC and more), and is a mentor to others through personal work and media engagements.

As a community leader and advocate for education, she lends her guidance to select organizations that include the International Trade Advisory Commission Board, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporate Board, and the Women's Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government/Harvard University. Janice has traveled to over fifty countries promoting education and the powerful impact it has on communities around the world. Her accomplishments, both personal and professional, are inspired by her deep faith and her love for her family. She says, "One cannot effectively lead without passionately serving."

Howroyd has said that one of the greatest gifts of her business is that it enables her to help others.

Author

The Art of Work - How to Make Work, Work for You!

Awards and honors

Personal

She is married to Bernard Howroyd, and they have two adult children, Katharyn and Brett.