Contract Player

BLACK EXCELLENCE: MARILYN F. BOOKER

Marilyn F. Booker is founder, president and CEO of OPPSWell, the premier B2B platform where enterprise buyers can engage directly with small and large business suppliers. She launched her startup app, which can be found at oppswell.com, in February of this year. 

Booker has close to 30 years of Wall Street experience — having served as head of Morgan Stanley’s Urban Markets Group for over 11 years and the company’s first Global Head of Diversity, Work-Life, EEO and Human Resources Policy for more than 17 years. An attorney by training, she is an accomplished wealth management professional who focused on inner-city communities and teaching financial education programs across America. Booker has published a number of articles on smart money management and produced an IGTV series called “Bank on Booker.” which explored the many facets of saving, investing and understanding the financial markets. She holds Series 7, 9, 10, and 66 FINRA licenses. 

The Chicago native received her B.A. magna cum laude from Spelman College and her J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology – Chicago Kent College of Law. After becoming the first Black clerk for a white judge in 110 years of Illinois Appellate Court history, Booker practiced law in the areas of criminal defense, municipal finance, corporate bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. She serves on the board of several nonprofits — including BeyGOOD, a foundation founded by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter that focuses on creating a society where everyone has an opportunity to prosper; and Leading Women Defined, a senior executive conference for Black women that succeeded the Black Entertainment Television women’s conference. 

A member of the Executive Leadership Council and a frequent speaker at Harvard University and other prestigious institutions, Marilyn has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at its hearing on “Diversity in the Financial Services Sector.” She was also a graduation speaker for the William & Mary Law School and has received numerous honors and recognitions. Some of those include Savoy magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America,” the Los Angeles Spelman College Alumni Association Community Service Award, the National Urban League’s Women of Power, the Community Service Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the “Woman of Distinction” Award from the Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, the Community Leadership Award from the Los Angeles YMCA and the Harvard College Black Men’s Forum’s “Woman of the Year.” 

Booker has also made numerous media appearances for such outlets and programs as Los Angeles’ KTLA, FOX, NPR, KCEP Power 88.1’s “Enterprising People” and the Steve Harvey Morning Show. She is the proud parent of three lovely children and her interests are golf, tennis, playing piano, and making a difference in the lives of others.