Michaela Angela Davis

In 2011, the New York Chapter of the NAACP in its centennial celebration presented her with the Phenomenal Woman Award. The Manhattan Borough President officially proclaimed her a "trailblazer" and WQHT HOT 97 called her "the new face of black history." Michaela Angela Davis is an image activist. Her entire illustrious and diverse career has been connected to a core commitment to create, celebrate, and support authentic, progressive, and beautiful images and ideas of diversity in media. Davis's innovative and creative thinking has allowed her to expand, evolve, and elevate brands. Currently, she is part of an elite brain trust that is working to reimagine the image of the largest media brand for African Americans, BET Network. Since her joining, BET became one of the top 20 cable networks and has garnered historic ratings.

For over 20 years Michaela Angela Davis has explored the power of beauty, urban style, women's politics, and hip-hop culture. Her magazine career began in 1991 at Essence magazine working under her mentor Susan L. Taylor as fashion editor. In 2004 she returned as their only executive fashion and beauty editor while simultaneously directing the culture section. While at Essence she launched the groundbreaking initiative "Take Back the Music," a multimedia campaign bringing awareness to the hyper-sexualized representation and lyrical disrespect of young women of color in mainstream media. Other bold moves in publishing include being the first fashion director of Vibe magazine. Davis was also fashion director and the last editor-in-chief of Honey, the first book for the 18-34 stylish urban American woman. Honey was the nation's fastest growing women's title during her tenure.

Michaela Angela Davis is a writer. She focuses on style, gender, race, and culture, appearing in a host of international magazines, websites, and books like Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture (Broadway Books). Davis authored Beloved Baby (Pocket Books/Simon and Schuster), a scrapbook and journal for alternative families. She writes on-air promotion and is a conversationalist, who has "critical conversations" on countless campuses including Yale, Brown, Howard, Spellman, Middlebury, and many community institutions, primarily about images of blacks and women in the media. Davis has hosted a session at the Congressional Black Caucus, and was a featured speaker at the first Young Feminist Summit as part of N.O.W.'s 50th anniversary. Davis has co-produced and served as a panelist at the Essence Music Festival's Empowerment Seminar Series, which focused on young women and image. "Who You Calling a Ho?" and "Sisters Take Issue with Our Images" were presented to record audiences. Davis has had wide network appearances on MSNBC, NBC, FOX, and PBS, among others. She is a recurring expert on pop-culture TV specials on CNN, BBC, MTV, VH1, and BET. Davis covered the historic 2008 presidential election and inauguration for TVOne and on CNN's "D.L. Hughley's Breaks the News" and Roland Martin's Election Special. Michaela advises Clutch, an online magazine for the young Urban-American woman and Harlem Fashion Row and organization committed to creating diversity in fashion. She was an expert advisor on Black Style Now!, an exhibit and program at CMNY. As a fashion stylist, Michaela lent her unique taste and image-making prowess to a host of artists and cultural icons, such as Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Prince, Diana Ross, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Bjork, Maxwell, and many others. From Vanity Fair to Ebony, she's added her fresh fashion flavor to many magazines. Michaela Angela Davis has been a commentator and style expert on Metro TV and Women's Entertainment Television Full Frontal Fashion, E!, and The View. Michaela has served as wardrobe designer and consultant for VH1 and the urban classic film Paid in Full.

Davis serves as secretary of the board of ImageNation and advisor to The Mott Bridges Academy. She hosts a monthly career mentoring series for young women and girls of color, Salon du Shine. Born in Germany and raised in Washington, D.C., Michaela Angela Davis is an artist at heart, having studied at NYU, Stella Adler Acting Conservatory, New School for Social Research, and The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, as well as having acted at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a National Arts Scholar.