ARS Counsel Celebrated Trailblazing Clients for Women's History Month

Our team at ARS Counsel is proud to support several women-led enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and creatives that are changing the narrative for women in tech, entertainment, beauty, publishing, and IP. Our partners and clients inspire us daily – energizing our mission to hold space for underrepresented voices as we tackle difficult conversations about gender inequality and its far-reaching impacts. We look forward to continuing this work because it is far from over. 

Last year, all-women startup teams received 1.9% – approximately $4.5 billion – out of around the $238.3 billion in venture capital allocated in the U.S. In entertainment, women-identifying creators are also greatly overlooked. Data from New York Women in Film and Television notes that women comprised only 17% of directors working on the 250 top grossing films in 2021. In the same year male characters in film outnumbered females by almost 2 to 1. These stats are not only astronomical, they are deeply upsetting.
This month has been a time to reflect on how we can champion a more equitable future, but it has also been a time to celebrate the significant contributions women have made to culture and society. We are thrilled to highlight a few clients who are making leaps and bounds in their respective industries – changing the narrative for women of color and making room for greater representation in the professional world.

Janeya Griffin

Janeya is an accomplished speaker, HBCU STEM graduate, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and the daughter of two formerly incarcerated individuals. At the young age of 16 she and her younger brother of 6 were introduced into the world of what it meant to experience hardship, not knowing it would be a catalyst in helping her to fulfill her purpose. 12 years later, two degrees, a certificate, and a contracting job with the National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA), Janeya’s passion for problem-solving and establishing connections would turn her into an award winning, lead Technology Transfer Specialist and an Executive Board Member for Federal Labs all over the country. After almost a decade at NASA, Janeya would take her expertise and create a consulting startup called The Commercializer®, LLC; a strategic firm bridging the gap between resources and historically excluded communities, bringing to market independent Inventors ideas, and developing ecosystems of sustainability at HBCUs. Janeya's passion to help others does not stop there; in 2017 she helped to Co-found and lead ConCreates, an award winning creative agency focused on changing the stigma and narrative behind how society views people with criminal histories and how people with criminal histories view themselves; turning her into now, an award winning Strategist. In the wake of the Pandemic, having found the projected wealth of communities of color to be 0 in the next 30-40 years, she then transitioned all of her expertise into changing the New Space Economy, received her Masters in Space Leadership, business, and policy, and then created the Equity Space Alliance; which advocates and ensures the new space economy is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible through media, resourcing, community building, and educational campaigns.

Jessica McKay

Jessica McKay is a NYTimes bestselling author who has woven together her love of children, education, families, and books into a career as an educator and writer. After attaining her BA in English from Spelman College and MA in English Education from Columbia University Teachers College and teaching at various schools and grade levels in her hometown of Washington DC as well as New York City, Jessica began her career in Los Angeles as a 5th grade English teacher at the Center for Early Education. After that, Jessica was the Assistant Director of Admissions at Geffen Academy at UCLA within the first year of the school's founding and later became the Director of Outreach and Inclusion there. She is now the Assistant Director of Admission and DEI at Harvard-Westlake School.
 
Throughout her career, Jessica has always juggled work and parenting her three young children. This balancing act was the inspiration for her first book, Always With You, Always With Me, a picture book she co-wrote with Kelly Rowland about the love between a mother and child even when the mother is away at work. Jessica continues to write and tell stories that haven’t been told before

Julissa Bermudez

Julissa Bermudez is a Dominican American actress, veteran TV host and founder of república skin. She is best known for some of TV’s biggest pop culture shows from BET to MTV. Julissa is also considered a beauty influencer appearing in campaigns for Estée Lauder, Makeup Forever and Origins. Most recently she co-hosted the Miss USA 2022 pageant and is starring alongside Grammy winning singer Ashanti and comedian Cedric The Entertainer in the rom-com “The Plus One.