DeShuna Elisa Spencer is the Founder & CEO of kweliTV, a black-owned streaming platform. She’s a former radio host and producer of emPower Hour, a show that examined social justice issues affecting people of color, on Washington, DC’s 89.3 FM WPFW. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Spencer served as Director of Communications for EdMarket (formerly NSSEA) where she ran the communications department and managed all media properties for the organization. Spencer graduated from Jackson State University where she studied communications and journalism.
She has written for The Clarion-Ledger, The Oakland Tribune and the Crisis Magazine. She is a Halcyon Incubator Fellow, a Voqal Fellow and a Google NexGen Policy Leader. Spencer was first place winner of the 2017 Harvard Business School African Business Conference Pitch Competition. A former AmeriCorps*VISTA and Chips Quinn Scholar, she is featured in the book, “How We Fight White Supremacy” as one of the more than 60+ black leading organizers, artists, journalists, entrepreneurs, etc., combating white supremacy through their work. In 2019, the Digital Diversity Network named Spencer the Innovation & Inclusion Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Spencer is also a 2023 prize winner of Black Ambition, a fund founded by Pharrell Williams. DeShuna and her company have been featured in CNN Business, Fast Company, Refinery 29, TIME, Emmy Magazine & more.
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