The Changemakers The Changemakers

NGOZI OKARO, ’90 Redefining an Industry

A strong familial pull brought Ngozi Okaro to Morgan State University for her formative years as an undergraduate: her mother, Amy Powell, had worked as a librarian at the University throughout Ngozi’s childhood.

Morgan was “a good space, a safe space to meet and get to know other people, learn other perspectives and be involved in organizations including student government and the political union and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. “Some of my lifelong friends came from Morgan, and some of the people I really respect and admire,” says Okaro, a self-described “nerd” who helped lead the 1990 student protest for equitable facilities at Morgan.

Today, her activism for economic, environmental and social justice continues in her work as Executive Director of Custom Collaborative (CC), an organization she founded in 2016 to educate and train immigrant and low-income women to work in the fashion industry. This 16-week program teaches skills from sewing and patternmaking to business management. Program graduates are then better equipped to seek fair compensation, launch their own businesses and use sustainable materials and practices. As consumers are shying away from fast-fashion and instead

Since founding CC, Okaro has become a sought-after industry leader in sustainable fashion practices: she is a 2022 Goldman Sachs Black Woman Impact Leader and Vogue Business 100 Innovator, a 2021 Conscious Fashion Campaign & United Nations Office for Partnerships SDG Honoree, a Crain’s Notable Women Business Owner, an AARP Purpose Prize Fellow, a 2020 Conscious Company Media and Kate Spade “World-Changing Women in Conscious Business” awardee, a 2019 NYC Fair Trade Coalition “Changemaker of the Year,” and New York Women’s Foundation “Spirit of Entrepreneurship” winner. In March, she presented CC’s work as an example of “WomenLed Innovations Advancing Equitable Workforce Development,” as a panelist at the 67th annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in New York.

Okaro is an advisor for The New Fashion Initiative and for Common Impact and is a founding board member of the NY Fashion Workforce Development Coalition. She serves as a Commissioner of the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission and a Director of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and has compiled a long list of other accomplishments during her two-decade career in social-sector leadership. She has a law degree from Georgetown University and is licensed to practice law in Louisiana and New York.

For more than 155 years, Morgan State University has been a pioneer in creating leaders and innovators who disrupt the status quo by tackling some of our greatest challenges head-on without hesitation. Meet four alumni who are using their talents and education to address access, representation, sustainability and community investment.