Janet Emerson Bashen (February 12, 1957- Present)

Janet Emerson Bashen is an American inventor, entrepreneur, and business consultant. She patented a software program to assist with web-based equal employment opportunity investigations. She founded a human resource consulting firm focusing on equal employment opportunity compliance, which investigated civil rights violations and employee misconduct. From 1997 to 2001, according to Inc magazine, her firm's revenue grew 552%, at which time it had 43 employees. In May 2000, she argued before Congress that civil rights and employee misconduct investigations should be exempt from the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In 2012, she was named to Ebony magazine's list of the 100 most influential African-Americans in entertainment, politics, sports and business, called the Power 100 List.