By Tashi McQueen | AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
In the aftermath of mass layoffs in 2025, many Black women are turning uncertainty into opportunity by launching businesses, strengthening professional networks and being innovative. Through resilience, creativity and community support, they are carving paths to stability and success in a shifting economy.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2025, the employment rate for Black women decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 55.7 percent. The employment-to-population ratio for Black women with a bachelor’s degree dropped 3.5 percentage points over the past year, a larger decline than any other education group, including those without a college degree.
Mary-Frances Winters, author of “Black Fatigue” and an equity, diversity and inclusion expert, believes Black women are turning layoffs into opportunity by starting businesses and building supportive networks. Photo Credit: Courtesy Photo.
“Black women are in professions that have been targeted,” said Mary-Frances Winters,
Winters noted that Black women disproportionately occupy diversity, inclusion, and equity, human resources, and government roles, which have been targeted and eliminated under the 47th president’s administration.
Since the federal ban on diversity initiatives, many organizations have cut chief diversity officer positions and related inclusion programs, leaving Black women in these roles suddenly jobless or facing insecure employment. Winters, who still works in diversity, inclusion, and equity, said entrepreneurship has been a key solution.
“What we find that Black women do is that they leave and start their own businesses,” she said.
According to the 2025 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Businesses report, Black women-owned businesses are a key engine of economic growth in the U.S., overseeing 2 million businesses that employ more than 647,000 people.
Winters emphasized that these challenges predate the administration’s crackdown and are systemic.
“I could only stay in corporate for 10 years,” she said. “The microaggressions, the discrimination that I faced…when people see a Black woman—the assumption is you’re not as good, you’re not as smart, and you have to be twice as good.”
Winters added that this experience leads to burnout.
“Black women are at the bottom when it comes to salaries, getting promoted, being seen, being appreciated, being valued and recognized for their talent,” she said.
“I know several of the women who did occupy chief diversity officer roles left on their own,” Winters said, noting that some resigned because promoting inclusion in the current political environment became overwhelming. “Trump has the thing around it’s about merit…what’s the message there? That we aren’t of merit?”
Data from the Economic Policy Institute shows the employment-to-population ratio for Black women decreased to 55.7 percent in 2025, marking a sharper decline than for other groups, while Black men remained highest at 61.0 percent. Photo Credit: Chart courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute
Winters shed light on how some of these women are persevering.
“I live in Barbados part-time,” she said. “Here, we have a group called the Black Pax Group, it’s expats who are Black who have left England, the United States, Canada, and who are either semi-retired, taking a year off because they got a buyout from their organization or they are starting their own business.”
Many of these businesses are in the wellness market, providing services to support Black women’s wellbeing, while others are small consulting firms.
“Black women in general are fatigued,” said Winters. “We are tired of having to continually defend and prove ourselves.”
She also encouraged support for entrepreneurial Black women and highlighted the importance of community.
Denise Aguilar, a global marketing strategist and founder of Denise Aguilar Consulting, is one of the many Black women who faced layoffs in 2025 and demonstrates resilience in how she has managed to move forward. Photo Credit: Courtesy Photo.
Denise Aguilar, a global marketing strategist, shared how she has turned layoffs into opportunities. Laid off in May 2025 after two years as global account director at Indigo Slate, she intensified her consulting practice, Denise Aguilar Consulting, and secured advisory roles with startups and the Latin Recording Academy Foundation. Aguilar, an Afrolatina with more than 15 years at Microsoft, Amazon and Vogue, said layoffs are difficult, but the real challenge is moving forward.
“I used to apply for 20 jobs a day because I needed to find a job immediately,” she said. “I would go on Craigslist, I would knock on doors… and do everything in my power to land the next thing.”
Aguilar credits her resilience to a strong support network of family, friends, and community. Her approach shows that even in uncertain times, determination, strategy, and support can turn setbacks into opportunities.
