Hollywood Glam Meets Girl Power: Inside the U.S. Black Chambers' Power 50 Women of Influence Luncheon
by Silke Endress International
The Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., does not rattle easily. Marble floors, hushed ballrooms, a staff trained to keep everything moving without ever appearing to move at all. And yet on this afternoon, the hotel had met its match: fifty among the most formidable women in the country, dressed for the red carpet, walking in like they owned the place.
Because, in every sense that matters, they do.
The U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. brought its Power 50 Women of Influence Luncheon home to the capital this year, and the room understood the assignment. The dress code was Hollywood Glam, think old studio-era shine with a modern edge and the crowd delivered. Sequins caught the light. Fascinators are angled just right. Statement earrings did quite an expensive job. This was a room that knew exactly how to dress powerfully, and it wore that power beautifully.
This year's theme, "Women Who Lead the Movement," was not a slogan stapled onto a program. It was the room itself: fifty honorees spanning healthcare, finance, policy, tech, entertainment, and nonprofit leadership, seated together, cheering for each other before a single award was handed out.
The Host Who Set the Atmosphere
Ron Busby Sr., President and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., has a way of walking into a ballroom like he's greeting family, because to this network, he is. He worked the room before the program even started, stopping at tables, embracing honorees he'd clearly known for years and welcoming newcomers with equal warmth. When he finally took the microphone, the room didn't just applaud. It leaned in.
That's the tone Busby has built into this event over the years: part family reunion, part masterclass in what economic power looks like when women hold the wheel.
"In order for there to be a great America, there must be a great Black America. In order for there to be a great Black America, we must have great Black businesses," said Busby. "And to ensure that we have great Black businesses, we must support and strengthen Black Chambers of Commerce."
American Airlines Takes Flight
As title sponsor, American Airlines didn't just put its name on the step-and-repeat, it put its people in the room, and one of them happened to be flying the kind of career most little girls are told to dream smaller than.
Captain Beth Powell, one of the relatively few Black women flying commercial aircraft today, spoke about altitude in more ways than one. Her presence alone gave every woman in that ballroom a new answer to "what's possible."
"Trust the process", every step unfolds as it is meant to; challenges are designed to help you grow; reframe obstacles by asking "what is this trying to teach me today?”, said Powell. "At the end, you align with your passion, you won't feel that you work a day in a life."
Captain Beth Powell — Pilot, American Airlines; Author & Documentary Director
- Role: Captain on the Boeing 737 for American Airlines; author; director of documentary short Discovering Bessie Coleman.
- Signature moment: Opened her segment with an in-character airline captain announcement welcoming attendees to the "Power 50 Woman of Honor."
- On the honor: Described it as "inspirational and hope," celebrating not just where honorees have arrived but the journey taken; noted it validates recipients to "keep going because we will make it to our destination."
Jewels of wisdom:
- Know who you are — especially at a young age, rooted in your passions and activities.
- Write your visions down and make them clear — "a dream without a timeline is just a dream"; attach timelines and goals.
- Align with mentors and guides who can support your journey.
- Know yourself so others cannot define you — "if you don't know yourself, people are going to try to define who you are."
Favorite quote: "Trust the process" — every step unfolds as it is meant to; challenges are designed to help you grow; reframe obstacles by asking "what is this trying to teach me today?"
- Concluded: "At the end, you align with your passion, you won't feel that you work a day in a life."
American Airlines understood the assignment by putting its name and its people behind it. Ron Busby Sr. and the U.S. Black Chambers understood it by building a stage sturdy enough to hold fifty different kinds of greatness at once. And the honorees understood it best of all — by showing up not just dressed for the moment, but ready to use it.
Silke Endress International was proud to be in the room for it. We came for the story. We left with a longer list of women to watch and a reminder of exactly why rooms like this one matter.
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