Women in leadership in our country is still considered a novel concept. This is confusing to women who understand that we’ve been leading since landing in this country. Black and brown women experience even more concern in leadership roles. Again, even while enslaved, Black women ran plantation kitchens and raised every child born in the nation. So questions about women, especially Black women in leadership, are confusing. On July 21st of this year, we celebrated Equal Pay Day for Black Women, meaning we just caught up with the earnings of White men in 2025. Believe it or not, July 21st is early; for many years, it was well into August.
To discuss this, I reached out to DeKalb County CEO the Honorable Lorraine Cochran-Johnson to speak about the challenge.
When asked about her thoughts on women in leadership, Cochran-Johnson says one thing about women in leadership is “we get things done.” Her advice to overcome the bias is to continue winning. By chipping away at the stereotypes about women in leadership there will be a greater comfort having women in those positions.
I asked about how often the rules change even if women meet all of the metrics they still don’t get the promotion referencing Julia Stewart at Applebee’s. Cochran-Johnson explains that some of the reluctance for women in leadership is fear. Women lead with empathy, diplomacy and it looks different from traditional leaders. She challenges women to master what they do and reminds us that your success is linked to your passion. The work is often not glamorous and you will face opposition but with strong conviction you can win,
I asked CEO Cochran-Johnson about her weekly newsletter with over 250,000 subscribers from around metro-Atlanta. She speaks about her background in media and communication. It is her way to create engagement while explaining policy and challenges in detail. She shares information about the near future goals for the county including Economic Development in major corridors including Memorial Drive and Candler Road.
To subscribe to CEO Cochran-Johnson’s newsletter