Stoker was the first African-American woman to take command of an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis navy missile destroyer. She led the U.S.S. Mitscher with a crew of 300. Originally from Greensboro, South Carolina, she graduated from the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in ocean engineering before entering into active duty. 

Isaacs became the first African-American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2013. Today she serves as the Founding Director of the Sidney Poitier New American Film School at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Stackhouse was the first African-American golfer assigned to the USA Curtis Cup team which won that year. The next year, she helped the Cardinals to victory for the National Championship. Then in 2016, she became the seventh African American woman to earn an LPGA Tour card. Currently, Stackhouse is an ambassador for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf and a founding partner for the Renee Powell Clearview Legacy Foundation Benefit. 

Paulette Brown became the first African-American women president of the American Bar Association in 2015. She earned her Bachelors from Howard University and her JD from Seton Hall. In many cases, she defends clients against discrimination and is a nationally recognized speaker on implicit bias. Brown worked for the last eight years as Partner and Chief Diversity Partner at Locke Lord LLP.

Dr. Hayden was the first African-American and the first woman to be the Librarian of Congress. She was appointed to the 10-year term position by President Obama. Previously, the position was a lifetime service, but in 2016 it was redesigned to 10 years with the possibility of reappointment. Hayden was also the first African-American to receive the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award back in 1995.  

Jenkins was the first openly transgender Black woman to be elected to a public office in 2017. She served Minneapolis’s 8th Ward on the City Council. Shortly after, she was also elected as the City Council’s Vice President. In 2020, the 8th Ward was where George Floyd was murdered.

Stewart was the first African-American to be elected as the President of the American Psychiatric Association. The year prior she had been awarded the James G. Hughes Community Advocate Award from the Memphis Child Advocacy Center for her work as the Director of the Center for Health in Justice Involved Youth.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a nonprofit organization that supports public aquarium and zoo efforts in conservation, education, and more. In 2019, Verret was the first African-American to be the director of the AZA. Today, she also directs the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. 

Morris holds three firsts for the Iowa Writers Workshop, a creative writing MFA program with dozens of Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award alumni. She was Iowa’s first tenured African-American Professor of Poetry, their first African-American women professor, and the Distinguished Visiting Poetry Professor. Then in 2021, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for poetry.

The first full-time female African-American NFL coach is Jennifer King. She is the assistant running back coach for the Washington Commanders. Last year, she also was the running back coach for the West team in the 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl, an all-star college football benefit for the Shriners Hospital for Children.

Jackson made history when she was confirmed and sworn in as the first African-American woman judge serving on the Supreme Court. She is also the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.