Mahogany Dime™ LLC CEO, Angela Ray
“Power plus passion increases your potential™,” proclaims award winning speaker Angela Ray. As CEO of Mahogany Dime™ LLC, she knows this to be true. Her work as a motivational speaker, actress and writer, has afforded her the opportunity to touch the lives of thousands across the country. An honors graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in Radio, Television, Motion Pictures and Speech Communication, Angela continues to expand her territory. Her primary focus through the company is to help people reach their goals through life changing seminars, real life performances, and publishing works that uplift and inspire. The company's signature gala is the Mahogany Dime™ Awards, an annual ceremony that honors the achievements of African American women from across North Carolina. During the inaugural ceremony, she was given a key to the City of Durham by Mayor Pro Tem, Cora Cole McFadden. In 2005, Durham Mayor Bill Bell proclaimed March 12th as “Mahogany Dime™ Day” in the City of Durham.
A multi-talented entrepreneur, as an actress, her film and television credits include Dawson’s Creek, Miracle in the Woods, Infamy, and Torn. Her stage credits are many, two of which are Permanent Collection at Deep Dish Theatre and Blues, which she starred in at the National Black Theatre Festival for two consecutive biennials. She was nominated as best supporting actress in a comedy play for her role in The Dance on Widow’s Row by the 2003 Triangle Theatre Awards. In 2005, she was awarded an Emerging Artist Grant from the Durham Arts Council for excellence in Drama. Accomplished behind the scenes, Angela’s credits as a director include Toe Jam and On the Other Side of the Hill. In addition, she served as artistic director of the Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre for two years. A produced playwright, she has two full-length plays to her credit: Loved Ones and Aluta Continua (the struggle continues) which was presented in conjunction with the University of North Carolina’s Bicentennial Celebration. Angela's complete list of acting credits can be found on her website, Angela Ray.com
A George Moses Horton Award winning poet, Angela is the author of the book of poetry, Blackberry Whispers. She has won several poetry slams along the east coast. She was a two time winner at Blackwords Slammin in Washington, DC and a two time winner at the Jumbalaya Soul Slam in Raleigh. She was a featured spoken word performer at the Women’s Empowerment and Networking breakfast, featuring keynote speaker Vivica A. Fox as well as the Black Workers for Justice Banquet featuring keynote speaker Danny Glover. She received a standing ovation for both performances. In the spring of 2004, she became a contributing author to the anthology Delta Girls: Stories of Sisterhood.
Today, Angela speaks to high school and college students around the country as a certified presenter for Monster Worldwide, which maintains the largest assembly of professional speakers in the country through its subsidiary, Making it Count. She has spoken to nearly 100,000 students. As a speaker, Angela has garnered accolades in several oratorical and public speaking contests including top prize honors from the I.B.P.O.E. of W. Oratorical Contest, General Baptist Association of North Carolina Oratorical Contest, and the Modern Woodmen of America Civic Oration Contest. While she was still a student in high school,, she represented the state of North Carolina in the National Civic Oration Contest.
Aside from speaking, Angela writes a weekly society column for the Herald Sun Newspaper. In addition, she makes time for education by teaching for Duke University Youth Programs during the summer. As an artist, her motto is “Give back to the community that which the community has given to you.”