Valeisha Butterfield Jones Is Building Power With Purpose—And Making Space For Herself Along The Way

To know Valeisha Butterfield Jones is to know that she’s forever been that girl.

I mean, let’s check the scoreboard: After graduating from Clark Atlanta University in 2000, she co-founded the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) in 2007, a global nonprofit that’s engaged more than 85,000 women pursuing careers in media and entertainment. From there, she built a powerhouse résumé across industries — from working at HBO Sports and Rush Communications to leading global women’s and Black community engagement initiatives at Google. 

She later made history as the Recording Academy’s first-ever Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer before becoming co-president, helping to reshape one of the most influential institutions in music.

Shall we proceed? Yes, indeed. Because that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

But one thing that’s been a throughline of her career, is that she doesn’t wait around for the world to catch up, but instead builds what she’s needed (or saw what other Black women needed) to exist. And right now, what she’s building couldn’t matter more for all of us.

Why? Well, Black women have been disappearing from the workforce. Not slowly. Not quietly. But over 300,000 of them in three months (and climbing according to the most recent jobs report). The unemployment rate for Black women is now up to 6.7%—the highest in the nation. And the most infuriating part of the whole scenario: Black women are the most qualified (and educated) group of them all (but is that even a surprise?). America will always America.

So Jones built something in response. The Global State of Women platform was created to put emergency grants in women’s hands and open up career access that wasn’t there before.

“Legacy and >SEED Media and starring Kyla Pratt, is based on Minda Harts’ best-selling book about what women of color face in the workplace. Jones calls it “a mirror and a rallying cry,” and that film became the spark for everything that followed. “From that spark grew a global platform designed to turn awareness into action and to ensure women everywhere have the power, resources, and freedom to lead fully.”

And of course, Global State of Women isn’t the only lane she’s running. She’s a member of the GRAMMYs Television Committee and co-founder and honorary chair of the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective. This year the collective raised funds for fire relief in Los Angeles, honored Alicia Keys with the Black Music Collective Award at the GRAMMY Awards for her global impact beyond music, and announced plans to expand into Africa and the Middle East.

Butterfield Jones has been using her platform to create opportunities for others, since the beginning of her career, and has no plans on stopping now: “Lifting as I Climb is my mantra and every decision that I make is centered around creating opportunities for others,” Jones says. “I deeply embrace the responsibility that I have to accelerate progress for everyone, and I’m honored to be in a position to make decisions that could positively change the trajectory of a person, community or even culture.”

But the biggest challenge she’s faced? Being critical of herself.

“One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced hasn’t come from the outside, it’s come from within,” Jones admits. Early in her career, she constantly questioned if she was ready, if she belonged, if she was “good enough.” That inner voice of doubt, she says, was louder than any external barrier.

But faith, stillness, and learning to trust God changed everything. “I realized I didn’t have to be perfect to be powerful.” She surrounded herself with mentors and community, people who reminded her of her worth but also spoke truth when she needed it most. Eventually she stopped measuring herself against impossible standards and started measuring herself against the purpose she believes God has for her life.

“That shift has made me more empathetic, more resilient, and more committed to helping others silence their own inner critic so they, too, can step fully into their power.”

It’s advice she’d give to anyone coming up behind her. “Trust your path and don’t wait for permission to lead, create, or take up space,” Butterfield Jones says. The world needs your voice as it is. Get uncomfortable, fail fast, because “those moments often become your greatest teachers.” Live in what she calls “the land of moonshots, where your vision is bigger than what feels possible today.”

And she’s clear about what real leadership looks like: “True leadership is not only measured by what you accomplish, but by how many doors you open for those coming after you.”

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, Jones is focused on scaling the Global State of Women into “one of the most powerful platforms for advancing women worldwide.” She’s talking about producing and investing in content that shifts narratives, shaping policy, creating opportunities that “open the door wider for more women.” Collective action. Lasting change.

She’s also back on the GRAMMYs Television Committee for the 69th Annual GRAMMY Awards in February 2026. And she’s excited: “Music is the most powerful tool that we have to unite people across the world and drive meaningful change.”

Beyond the platforms, the committees, and the global initiatives, she’s also claiming joy for herself. “I’m ready for love, y’all!”

It’s vulnerable. It’s real. And it feels exactly on brand. Because Butterfield Jones isn’t just building for others while putting her own life on hold. She’s making space for all of it—the world-changing work and her own transformation happening right alongside it.

The post Valeisha Butterfield Jones Is Building Power With Purpose—And Making Space For Herself Along The Way appeared first on Essence.