Maggie Anderson (activist)

Maggie Anderson (born Margarita; born 1971) is an American activist, author, CEO, and co-founder, with her husband John Anderson, of the Empowerment Experiment.^[7][8]

Margarita (Maggie) Anderson
Born	1971 (age 52–53) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Education	North Miami Beach High School Emory University, B.A. 1993 (political science) University of Chicago, J.D. 1998, M.B.A. 2001
Employers	2009 – Present The Empowerment Experiment CEO and Founder 2007 – Present Stax Inc. 2000 – 2003 McDonald's, Strategy Manager
Known for	campaign to buy only from black enterprises
Notable work	Anderson, Maggie; Ted Gregory (2012). Our black year : one family's quest to buy Black in America's racially divided economy. New York, NY: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610390248. LCCN 2011040609.
Spouse	John Carl Anderson
Children	2 daughters
Website	www.ourblackyear.com
Notes
^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Biography

Anderson grew up in Liberty City, Miami, Florida and earned degrees at Emory University and University of Chicago. Her husband, John Anderson, is from Detroit, went to Harvard, and earned his MBA at Kellogg School of Management.^[8] They conceived the project after an expensive dinner at the posh Tru restaurant on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.^[3]

Anderson studied constitutional law under Barack Obama at Chicago Law School. She was an executive at McDonald's.^[3]

Anderson and her family spent the entire year of 2009 patronizing, as much as possible, only African-American owned businesses, eschewing all others. She wrote a book^[9] about the experience, reporting that in some fields, it was difficult to find black-owned businesses, and that black people patronized businesses within their own ethnic group less than other ethnic groups.

Anderson has participated in successful political campaigns for Rep. John Lewis, Mayor of Atlanta Bill Campbell, and Barack Obama's campaign for U.S. Senate. She has done work for the RainbowPUSH Coalition.^[10]

Books

In 2012, Anderson published her first book Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy,^[9] which she co-authored with Ted Gregory,^[11] a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune. The book describes the struggle she and her family went through with racism in business professions.

Anderson has also written the following romance fiction novels:

• A Night of Passion (2015)^[12]
• Driving Me Crazy (2016)^[13]
• Wolf Blood (2017)^[14]
• Wolf Curse (2017)^[15]
• Christmas, Mistletoe and You (2017)^[16]
• Wolf Lover (2019)^[17]
• Wolf Bonds (2021)^[18]

See also

• African-American businesses
• Black Economic Empowerment

References

1. "Maggie Anderson's LinkedIn profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
2. Maggie Anderson, Krissah Thompson (March 10, 2012). "After Words with Maggie Anderson". Book TV. C-SPAN. Retrieved 2015-04-21.
3. Shropshire, Terry (December 12, 2011). "Maggie Anderson Pens Book, 'Our Black Year,' About Buying From Black Businesses for Entire Year". Rolling Out - Black News, Celebrity Videos, Entertainment, Business & Politics. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
4. "Our Black Year, with Maggie Anderson 93C". Emory Bubble. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
5. Edmond, Alfred Jr. (March 14, 2012). . Black Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
6. Robinson, Larisa (January 25, 2012). . emPower Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
7. "MARGARITA ANDERSON IS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE EMPOWERMENT EXPERIMENT (EE) AND THE EMPOWERMENT EXPERIMENT FOUNDATION, INC" (PDF). Vocus. March 12, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
8. "Buying black". Chicago Tribune. March 9, 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
9. Anderson, Maggie; Ted Gregory (2012). Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy. New York, NY: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610390255. LCCN 2011040609. OCLC 941861776. Google Books page
10. . Docstoc, Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
11. Gregory, Ted C. "About Ted C. Gregory". Ted C. Gregory. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
12. Anderson, Maggie (October 22, 2015). A Night of Passion. Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp Print Us. ISBN 9780992513924.
13. Anderson, Maggie (December 9, 2016). Driving Me Crazy. Bella Luna Books, Australia. ISBN 9780992513931.
14. Anderson, Maggie (February 8, 2017). Wolf Blood: A Moon Grove Paranormal Romance Thriller. Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp. ISBN 9780992513962.
15. Anderson, Maggie (November 13, 2017). Wolf Curse: A Moon Grove Paranormal Romance Thriller. Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 9780992513979.
16. Anderson, Maggie (November 29, 2017). Christmas, Mistletoe and You: A Christmas Romance Novella. Bella Luna Books, Australia. ISBN 9780992513986.
17. Anderson, Maggie (September 7, 2019). Wolf Lover: A Moon Grove Paranormal Romance Thriller. Bella Luna Books, Australia. ISBN 9780648483618.
18. Anderson, Maggie (September 22, 2021). Wolf Bonds: A Moon Grove Paranormal Romance Thriller - Book Four. Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 9780648483632.

External links

• Gray, Steven. . TIME. Archived from the original on April 13, 2010. Retrieved 2012-03-15. A Chicago couple vows to buy only from black-owned businesses for an entire year. They call it an empowerment experiment. But is it racist? (video)
• Anderson, Maggie. . Author Maggie Anderson and OUR BLACK YEAR. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
• Appearances on C-SPAN