The Black Women Film Network (BWFN) is thrilled to confirm that living legend and media trailblazer Cathy Hughes will be presented with the 2025 BWFN Sheryl Gripper On Her Shoulders Preservation Award during its Tenth Annual BWFN Summit taking place March 22, 2025, at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
The award, which includes the name of BWFN founder Sheryl Gripper, is given to a woman who has created space for Black women especially as a First, Only or Different (FOD) trailblazer in the entertainment industry over decades. She is also a woman who inspires hope through her journey, plus serves as a blueprint of what�s possible while defying the odds.
Ms. Hughes has more than exceeded those requirements. The Omaha native is an icon who is one of one. An entrepreneur of the highest order Ms. Hughes built Urban One, working alongside her only child Alfred Liggins III, into the premier urban media conglomerate with radio, TV, online media properties and more.
In 1999, Hughes became the first Black American woman to chair a publicly held corporation. Today, the multi-media conglomerate is the leader in creating original content across radio, television and digital media tailored to the coveted urban audience.
It is the largest Black American-owned, diversified media corporation in the nation and reaches more than 80 percent of the Black American market through Radio One�s 55-plus broadcast radio stations; the cable networks TV One and CLEO-TV; syndication company Reach Media that produces The D.L. Hughley Showamong others; the digital platform iOne Digital which includes Bossip, HelloBeautiful, and MadameNoire, among others; and the cross platform marketing company One Solution.
Previously announced honorees who will be saluted during the celebratory awards luncheon include Aja Naomi King, star of the new NBC drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society whose past TV credits also include How To Get Away with Murder and Lessons in Chemistry; Tyler Perry Studios President of Original Content Angi Bones; Denise Williams Watt, global head of original content for Apple Music; Felicia Joseph, senior vice-president of casting for Disney Branded Television, which includes ABC among others; and Katori Hall, creator and showrunner of the Starz series P-Valley.
This year�s Summit features an inspiring lineup of honorees and thought-provoking discussions centered around the theme Plot Twist: The Art of The Pivot, focusing on how Black women are successfully navigating change and redefining the future of film, TV, and the entertainment industry at large.
Summit highlights include fireside chats featuring Kat Graham and Meagan Tandy, stars of the Amazon MGM Studios film Tyler Perry�s Duplicity which begins streaming on Prime Video March 20, and Sonay Hoffman, co-showrunner of the NBC hit Found created by Nkechi Okoro Carroll currently airing Thursday nights.
Programming also includes panels on funding, marketing and PR, hair, makeup, and costume, as well as representation, among other topics. Sponsored by NBCUniversal, and powered by CVENT, this year�s BWFN Summit celebrates its 10th anniversary.
The organization founded in 1997 is now in its 28th year.�We are ecstatic to honor Ms. Cathy Hughes especially in Women�s History Month and during our 10th BWFN Summit. She is a pioneer, a living legend and a shero who is a walking blueprint of what�s possible for Black women in media, television, digital media and radio. She has absolutely mastered this year�s Plot Twist: The Art of the Pivot theme and is still challenging herself and reaching new heights.
It is indeed our privilege as an organization representing Black women in this critical content space to give her her flowers and say thank you for all she�s done to inspire and empower us,� said BWFN Chair Chiquita Lockley.