Chairman Gwendolyn Scales
A resident of Detroit, Michigan, Gwendolyn is an international recording artist, singer/songwriter, business owner, and exercise guru.
Gwen started her music career at age four and emerged as a recording artist while in college. While on the road with such noted artists as Motown’s Hamilton Bohannon, former Warner Brothers’ recording artist David Peaston, and many local Detroit bands she continued to hone her own unique style of singing.
Gwendolyn and her husband Charles are co-owners of Urban Jazz Contemporary Records and CGS Entertainment, an entertainment booking agency. Their production house, Perfect Fifth Productions, has released five albums to date with several others currently in production.
How Fifth Third Bank Seeks to Bridge The Wealth Gap
The Fifth Third Bank in Rochester Hills, Michigan (iStock.com/RiverNorthPhotography)
When it comes to driving African American engagement in wealth building, Gail Perry-Mason has been a tireless advocate for the movement. For 24 years, Perry-Mason, who rose in the securities industry from a receptionist to First Vice President of Investments for a national financial firm, has taught African American youth business and financial principles through her Detroit-based Money Matters for Youth (MMY), which includes an annual camp and year-round activities. Moreover, she has mentored a generation of young women who are now professionals within the financial services sector.
Grit and grace: Hot Sam s Detroit celebrates 100 years
Hot Sam s Detroit
Cliff Green (left), Lauren Stovall and Tony Stovall are celebrating the 100th anniversary of men s clothing shop Hot Sam s Detroit, founded in 1921.
Lauren Stovall didn t always see her place in the family business.
Her father, Tony Stovall, is co-owner of Hot Sam s, a men s fashion fixture in downtown Detroit since 1921. I had many opportunities growing up to work in the store, said Lauren, who is 38. (But) I didn t see my place in the store. I wasn t really that interested in men s fashion.
But she loves history, and when she moved back home from Florida in 2009, she started to see her father s shop as exactly that part of Detroit s history.