The AFRO’s Baltimore Tea returns with spotlight on women in the C-suite

By AFRO Staff

The AFRO’s 2026 Baltimore Tea has already sold out, with more than 1,000 people expected to attend. The event will be held Saturday April 25, 2026 at Martin’s West, located at 6817 Dogwood Road. 

Sponsors for the 2026 Baltimore Tea include Associated Black Charities; BGE Exelon Company, GBMC Healthcare; Public Justice Center; United Way of Central Maryland and Wylie Funeral Homes.

Each year, the tea serves as a time for community members, leaders and elected officials to come together in their finest threads, hats and gloves.The event first took place in 2017, with roughly 200 people in attendance. Now, it is one of most anticipated events in the Black community each Spring, complete with entertainment and a parade of hats open for all to join.

This month, the tea will take place under the theme of “Honoring Baltimore’s Leading Ladies: The C Suite,” with a special salute to the women executives of the region. 

See more about this year’s honorees below. 

Janet S. Currie 

President, Bank of America Greater Maryland 

Janet Currie is president of Bank of America, Greater Maryland, and the market executive for the Local Markets Organization with more than 30 year career in financial services.

As president of Bank of America, Greater Maryland, she is responsible for connecting  banking and investment resources offered through the banks’ eight lines of business to people and companies across the region. She also leads the effort to deploy Bank of America’s resources to help advance economic mobility and build strong communities.  

As the market executive, Currie leads Bank of America’s community opportunity work in the region, leveraging the capabilities of the company to help partners, people and communities more effectively address a wide range of issues. 

Currie holds a Master of Science degree from New York University, Stern School of  Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spelman College in Atlanta.

Shannetta R. Griffin

Executive Director and CEO, Maryland Aviation Administration 

Shannetta R. Griffin was appointed as the executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration on April 4, 2025. She is responsible for overseeing the management, planning and operations of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Martin State Airport and the state’s regional aviation assistance program. 

Griffin has more than 40 years of experience as a professional engineer within the transportation industry with an emphasis on aviation and aerospace.She received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Toledo. She is the proud mother of two children and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Faith P. Leach
Baltimore City Administrator

Faith Leach was appointed by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott to serve as the City’s second- and first-woman city administrator (CA). On March 13, 2023, the Baltimore City Council unanimously confirmed the appointment. In her role, Leach manages the day-to-day government operations of city government, ensuring the effective, efficient and equitable delivery of city services.

Robyn Murphy
CEO, Create Baltimore

As CEO of Create Baltimore — Baltimore City’s designated arts council — Robyn Murphy is redefining how cultural investment fuels economic  growth, civic engagement and collective well-being. 

Murphy oversees a citywide portfolio that includes cultural institutions, artist studios and the region’s largest farmer’s market. Under her leadership, Create Baltimore administers  Maryland’s largest direct funding to artists and arts organizations. She also serves as  executive producer of Artscape, the largest free outdoor arts festival in the United States,  where she continues to expand the festival’s impact as a platform for creativity, economic  mobility and community connection. 

Tamla Olivier
President and Chief Executive Officer, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company

Tamla Olivier, a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is the president and chief executive officer of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation. Olivier and her leadership team oversee safety, reliability, customer service, financial performance and BGE’s commitment to delivering value to its customers while fostering an equitable energy transition. BGE is the nation’s first gas utility and is currently Maryland’s largest electric and natural gas utility, serving more than 1.3 million electric and 700,000 gas customers in central Maryland.

Nykidra “Nyki” Robinson
Founder, Black Girls Vote

Nykidra “Nyki” Robinson is a values-driven leader, entrepreneur, visionary and motivator with a heart for people and a passion for changing the world. 

Robinson, a Baltimore native, is a graduate of Randallstown High School and first-generation college student with a degree from Frostburg State University. 

Robinson is an outreach specialist with over 17 years of project management, community engagement and organizing experience. Often labeled as a “millennial on the move,” Robinson’s life and work experience combined with her interest in politics was birthing ground for the delivery of her biggest project yet, Black Girls Vote, Inc. This non-partisan, grassroots organization focuses on encouraging and mobilizing African-American women to use their collective voting power to advocate for issues that impact African-American women and families. 

In 2020, Robinson created the innovative Party at the Mailbox (PATM) campaign, one of the first COVID-proof voter education and engagement activations in the nation. PATM launched in April 2020 in Baltimore for the Primary Election. The program expanded to Detroit and Philadelphia for the General Election and in Atlanta for the 2021 run-off elections. PATM’s enormous success includes securing local, national and international supporters. Robinson is also overseeing the most extensive known randomized control trial evaluation focused on Black voters’ voter engagement. 

Shelonda Stokes
President and CEO, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
Executive director, Downtown Management Authority

Shelonda Stokes is a changemaker who leads with purpose and has built a body of work that is reshaping what is possible for Baltimore and for cities across the country. As president and CEO of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and executive director of the Downtown Management Authority, she leads two multi-million-dollar organizations with a unified mission to position Downtown Baltimore as a destination of choice where residents, businesses and visitors all have a stake in its success.  

A proud electrical engineering graduate of Morgan State University and a current member of its Board of Regents, Stokes applies a rigorous, data driven approach to every initiative she leads. Under her leadership, Stokes and her team secured a catalytic 50 million dollar investment in the Central Business District, advanced the strategic relocation of 12 State of Maryland agencies into the urban core to stimulate economic activity and successfully advocated for transformational development throughout downtown, including the retention of CFG Bank Arena in the heart of the city. That sustained, coalition driven work has helped catalyze nearly 7 billion dollars in active and planned development across Downtown Baltimore.  

Chrissy M. Thornton 

President and CEO, Associated Black Charities 

Chrissy M. Thornton is the president and CEO of Associated Black Charities (ABC), a racial equity  organization headquartered in Baltimore. She is also the founder of My Girl Power Matters, a women’s empowerment series.

A native New Yorker, Thornton is known for blending visionary strategy with hands-on execution, building professional pipelines, advancing digital inclusion and convening community dialogues that drive meaningful change. At the core of her work is a commitment to building trust, creating opportunity and advancing equity.

Alicia Wilson

Vice President, Civic Engagement and Opportunity 

Johns Hopkins University 

Alicia Wilson is the vice president for civic engagement and opportunity at Johns Hopkins University. 

In this role, she leads and coordinates a broad range of strategic initiatives aimed at fostering community partnerships, economic growth and civic engagement in Baltimore and beyond. She spearheads efforts to integrate and strengthen relationships between Johns Hopkins and surrounding communities. Wilson plays a pivotal role in overseeing community and civic engagement initiatives, collaborating on high-priority public impact projects and advising on institutional matters of significance.

A graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Wilson has received numerous accolades for her professional and civic contributions. 

Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. 

Founding Executive Director, Karson  Institute for Race, Peace and Social Justice 

Karsonya “Dr. Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., is the founding executive director of the Karson  Institute for Race, Peace and Social Justice and a professor of communication and African and  African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland. She is the host of the award-winning  radio show “Today with Dr. Kaye” on WEAA, 88.9 FM, and the 30th national president of the  Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). 

Dr. Kaye is the author of five books and a sought-after keynote speaker. She received her BA in history from Lincoln University, an MA from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Kaye is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and lives in Baltimore with her husband and her family.

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