Barbara Harris Curtis ................................................. Founder and President, RARE Pearls, Inc

from Top 30 Woman 2018

Shawn Emerson Simmons, PhD.................................. Environmental and Permitting Manager, ExxonMobil Chemical Company

d-mars.com Top 30 Influential Women of Houston Barbara Harris Curtis

Founder and President, RARE Pearls, Inc.

arbara H. Curtis is passionately Bcommitted to equipping and inspiring individuals to experience purpose and victory in every area of their lives. This commitment and the belief that people are “blessed to be a blessing” are the motivation behind her mission to serve.

Curtis’ diverse gifts and roles include minister, author, motivational speaker, mentor and community leader. Her professional background includes over 30 years in education, leadership development, teambuilding and public relations with corporations and organizations including Houston Independent School District, Windsor Village United Methodist Church and J.P. Morgan Chase. She currently serves in full-time ministry at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Deeply disturbed by evidence of a steady decline in the confidence, self-respect, values and positive aspirations of young girls, Curtis founded RARE Pearls, Inc. in 2014. The vision for the RARE Pearls high school mentoring program personifies the charge of the late Dr. Maya Angelou, “When you learn, teach; when you get, give.” Through RARE Pearls, Curtis is committed to working with other dedicated women to equip and empower under-served girls to navigate and overcome the hardships, negative media images and other risk factors impacting their futures. With her visionary leadership, RARE Pearls provides life skills and college readiness training, an annual girls’ conference, college scholarships and a first-year college mentoring program. Curtis recognizes the importance of positive role models. Her mother, grandmother, teachers and others invested immeasurably in her future, and she is committed to doing likewise for other young women and girls. Though young in its existence as an organization, Curtis’ visionary leadership has had a tremendous impact on RARE Pearls, Inc. To date, through its 2-year mentoring program, the organization has graduated two classes, awarded over $60,000 in college scholarships, and provided laptop computers, luggage and dorm room necessities to each of the program graduates. The tangible success of the program was recently evidenced in the poised and heart-rendering speech of a 2018 graduate who stated, “My words used to be ‘I can’t…I don’t…and I won’t’, but today, thanks to RARE Pearls, my words are ‘I CAN…I DO…and I WILL!”

Curtis has received numerous awards and recognitions for her service to the Houston community and beyond, including the inaugural “Mayor’s History Makers Award” presented by Mayor Sylvester Turner and Comcast.

Though her personal and professional accomplishments are many, nothing drives Curtis more than her desire to live out God’s purpose and plan for her life.