Reimagine: A conversation with Beverly Bond, CEO and founder of Black Girls Rock!

Representation matters. That core belief is the driving force behind Black Girls Rock! (BGR!) and the work its CEO and founder, Beverly Bond is leading.

Early in her career as a model and celebrity DJ, Beverly saw firsthand the marginalization and limited representation Black women often encounter. That lived experience ultimately motivated her to devote her life to elevating and celebrating her community.

This year, Microsoft began a partnership with BGR!, which included the launch of a monthly book club spotlighting young Black innovators and providing interactive workshops on everything from STEM lessons to creative writing.

Empowerment stories and education initiatives are key to BGR!’s programs as it works to reimagine the future for young leaders. I recently spoke with Beverly about how she’s leveraging storytelling and technology to take what was once a passion project to turn it into a global movement.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: You created BGR! to improve representation and opportunities for Black women. Can you walk me through how this journey started for you?

BEVERLY BOND: Being Black and female, growing up you notice in media, in dolls, in coloring books, in representation in every space—you don’t see yourself. As a model, I remember the matter-of-factness around words like, “Oh, we already have our Black model. We don’t need another.” That was a matter-of-fact statement in the 90s. And then as a DJ, I paid a lot of attention to the opportunities for Black women artists that seemed to dwindle and not seeing our artists elevated the way other people were.

But when I started, it wasn’t a plan to start a movement. It was a plan to create a T-shirt: Black Girls Rock! I started to write down the names of Black women who rocked throughout history, from Harriet Tubman to Sojourner Truth all the way to Beyoncé and Mariah Carey. And as I was writing all these names down, somewhere on the third page I stopped and had an epiphany. I was like, “Wow, this is a message that’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than my T-shirt. It’s an affirmation that we haven’t heard and that we all need to hear, from our grandmothers to our babies.”

So, I said I’d start an awards show. I just so happened to be a top DJ, and VH1 had asked me to participate in their annual Hip Hop Honors. They wanted female representation and I said, “I’m actually about to launch Black Girls Rock!, so this is perfect. I could launch in conjunction with VH1 Hip Hop Honors.” And I did! The first honorees were MC Lyte and DJ Jazzy Joyce, who’s a pioneer in hip hop.

It started there and it caught fire immediately. By year two, we were at the Lincoln Center in New York City. People had heard about it and women from Kerry Washington to Regina King to Gabrielle Union all said, “How can I help? Because this needs to happen.” It really started so organically and started snowballing. It was messaging that we weren’t hearing in 2006.

And as I started doing that, I also recognized I needed to support the next generation as they were coming up in messaging that made them feel less than. I wanted to create programs that would give them tools to level up and be great leaders, and thought leaders, and critical thinkers, and of service to humanity. And I never looked back.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: I think the most amazing thing is how organically it sounds like it all started. And a big part of what it seems like you do so well is to build community, is to bring people with you, to attract people who want to be part of what you’re doing. Is that something that sort of comes naturally to you? Does technology play a role?

BEVERLY BOND: I’m a DJ first, so community is what I do! And I think technology has changed the game. BGR! came along right when we were on Myspace, and by the time we got to TV, Twitter was really popping. Social media certainly helped to spread the message far and wide, like it is with every movement now.

And it’s helped in building community through the pandemic. We had to shut down our summer camps that we do with our girls and had to immediately figure out how to shift gears to virtual. And it actually worked for us in terms of elevating the number of girls we had in the program. We were able to get so many more.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: I love it. One of the things BGR! and Microsoft are doing together is a virtual book series that highlights young Black leaders. Can you talk a little bit about that work?

BEVERLY BOND: We’ve always had a book club in our programs, and we want to make sure that reading and literacy are important. I wanted to start a book club and create a program for girls who’ve gone through the BGR! programs over the years. All our girls who’ve graduated are doing so many amazing things, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to launch our alumni program. Now, we have the girls from the BGR! program doing the interviews with the authors.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: That’s pretty cool. And so, it must be satisfying see some of the effects of the program and be able to weave them back to the kids in the program now.

BEVERLY BOND: Absolutely. One of the coolest things about this program is it’s endless. We have so many girls and so many offers, and there’s also this new surge of Black woman authors. So, we have a ton of content we want to have our alums participate in. And what’s good about technology is you get to keep it online for people to see and view.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: That’s such a cool virtuous cycle. I read that you said you’re happiest when you’re learning. What are you currently reading?

BEVERLY BOND: I’m finishing Mariah Carey’s book because I love her. And I’m also reading Haben Girma’s book, who we just had featured in the book club. She’s the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law, and her book is an amazing read.

CHRIS CAPOSSELA: As you think about what’s next and the future of BGR!, what inspires you to invent what the next chapter might be?

BEVERLY BOND: The humanitarian spirit and being of service. I love our culture and I think that there are so many great opportunities for me to continue to provide platforms and opportunities for women of color. We just launched the BGR!TV Network streaming platform, and that’s super exciting. It’s another challenge, but it also gives me an opportunity to present opportunity to others.