Maggie Anderson (activist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margarita (Maggie) Anderson
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| Born | 1971 (age 53–54) Miami, Florida, U.S.
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| Education | North Miami Beach High School Emory University, B.A. 1993 (political science) University of Chicago, J.D. 1998, M.B.A. 2001 |
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| Known for | campaign to buy only from black enterprises |
| Spouse(s) | John Carl Anderson |
| Children | 2 daughters |
Maggie Anderson (born Margarita in 1971) is an American activist and author. She is also a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and co-founder of a group called the Empowerment Experiment. She started this group with her husband, John Anderson.
About Maggie Anderson
Maggie Anderson grew up in Liberty City, Miami, Florida. She went to college at Emory University and then to University of Chicago. Her husband, John Anderson, is from Detroit. He studied at Harvard and earned his MBA (Master of Business Administration) at Kellogg School of Management.
Maggie Anderson studied law at Chicago Law School. One of her teachers there was Barack Obama, who later became President of the United States. Before starting her own work, she was an executive at McDonald's. An executive is a high-level manager in a company.
The Empowerment Experiment
In 2009, Maggie and her family decided to do something special. For a whole year, they tried to buy things only from businesses owned by African-Americans. They wanted to see what it was like and how easy or hard it would be. This project was called the Empowerment Experiment.
Maggie wrote a book about this experience. She shared that it was sometimes hard to find businesses owned by African-Americans in certain areas. She also noticed that people from different ethnic groups sometimes support businesses within their own group more than others.
Maggie Anderson has also helped with important political campaigns. She worked with John Lewis, a well-known member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She also helped Bill Campbell when he ran for Mayor of Atlanta. And she worked on Barack Obama's campaign when he ran for the U.S. Senate. She has also worked with the RainbowPUSH Coalition, a group that works for civil rights.
Maggie Anderson's Books
In 2012, Maggie Anderson published her first book. It is called Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy. She wrote this book with Ted Gregory, a journalist from the Chicago Tribune. The book tells the story of her family's year-long journey. It shares the challenges they faced while trying to support African-American owned businesses.
See also
- African-American businesses
- Black Economic Empowerment
