Women of Color Luminaries from Victoria’s Secret, Anthropologie, Alo and More Honored at First-of-Its-Kind Retail Summit
WOCRA CEO Kimberly Lee Minor welcomes attendees at the B.I.G. Summit. (Credit: PV Entertainment)
The event, held on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, at Microsoft’s New York City Headquarters, drew over 200 attendees. Honorees included: Brandice N. Daniel, founder of Harlem’s Fashion Row; Masako Konishi, executive vice president of merchandising and buying at Alo Yoga; Shawuan Johnson, chief merchandising officer at Victoria's Secret; Anu Narayanan, president of women's and home at Anthropologie; Cynthia Sole, AI & digital transformation sales executive at Microsoft, and Stormi Steele, founder and CEO of Canvas Beauty.
Although the awards focused on retail luminaries, the summit connected women of all levels: industry leaders as well as midcareer and rising talent. Women of color constitute almost 32% of retail industry jobs, but only 6% of C-suite roles. WOCRA leadership sees this work as a critical step toward creating opportunities during a time they are being significantly reduced.
“We are done with admiring resilience,” WOCRA CEO Kimberly Lee Minor said in her welcome. “Today, we shift from admiration to action. … One day, we’ll look back at Sept. 25, 2025, and say: ‘This was the day we stopped whispering change and started shouting it.’ ”
Dozens of retail industry leaders led workshops and training sessions within three tracks: leadership development, self-care and resilience, and AI/tech education by the Retail AI Council. Sunny Hostin—lawyer, journalist, and five-time Emmy Award–winning co-host of The View—joined Minor in a fireside chat on authenticity and blazing new paths. Hostin, also a bestselling author, is the founder and CEO of the multiplatform media company Sunny Hostin Productions and creator of Sunny Hostin Wines.
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About WOCRA
The WOC Retail Alliance (WOCRA) was established to create meaningful pathways for women of color in retail, from entry-level positions to the highest levels of corporate leadership. It provides hard and soft skills training, leadership development, and a support network for members. In 2024 alone, WOCRA brought together over 11,000 professionals for conversations and relationship-building across industry sectors and organizational levels. The organization also connects companies with job-ready talent and helps them build strong cultures that support retention.
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