As the Founder & CEO of The Melanin Project, I am deeply committed to uplifting women of the Black and African diaspora, along with other historically marginalized communities, through my mission to eradicate wealth disparities. In my role as a leading wealth empowerment advocate and financial coach, I draw from my personal struggles and path to prosperity to inspire and guide others toward financial freedom.

As a motivational speaker and the face of The Melanin Project brand, I openly share my journey of overcoming a daunting $30,000 in debt from a car loan, payday loans, credit cards, credit report blemishes, and a credit score in the mid-500s. This includes the experience of being unbanked and dealing with a substantial amount of student loan debt.

Through speaking engagements, personal finance workshops, budget planners, online courses, and as the visionary behind the first-ever Wealth Literacy Conference held in Madison in April 2023 and 2024, I offer practical tools and heartfelt encouragement to help individuals achieve their financial goals. These offerings also provide me the opportunity to share my lived experience of how oppression and discrimination eroded my mental health and sense of self-worth, leading to the very model that helped me discover financial freedom and my vision to create a supportive pathway forward for everyone I reach.

In addition to my work with The Melanin Project, I am proud to serve as a manager for the integrated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office at UW Health and the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. In this capacity, I help support our vision to be a leader in actively dismantling racism in ourselves, our system, and our community. Although there is much more we need to accomplish with this vision, I am blessed to work alongside an amazing team of colleagues who recognize that all patients, families, faculty, and staff deserve to feel safe and respected.

2024 Pride in Color

The Visionary: Afra Smith amplifies lived experience and empowers financial freedom through The Melanin Project.

The Public Servant: Jesus Rivera works to bring needed representation as the only minority and openly LGBTQ+ member on the School District of Cambridge Board of Education.

The Advocate: DeShanda Williams-Clark is a trailblazing advocate for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, sexual exploitation, and crisis in the Milwaukee community.

The Defender: Erica Lopez is the Executive Director and Staff Attorney at the Peoples Law Center | Centro de Derecho de la Gente (PLC).