Margarita “Maggie” Anderson and her family made history and dominated headlines as national media covered their year-long stand and study to use their buying power to counter the social and economic crises, such as crime, unemployment, gang violence, and educational listlessness that disproportionately damage their community. The family’s sacrifice, and the awareness and research it generated were called The Empowerment Experiment (EE). Maggie is also the author of the critically acclaimed book about EE, Our Black Year.
Since the experiment and the book, Margarita has become the face of a conscious consumerism movement uniting consumers, corporations, government entities and the quality businesses that can rescue struggling communities and provide role models to at-risk youth. Margarita appears on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS Newshour, and CBS Morning News, among many other national television and radio shows. A sought-after speaker, she tours the country to present the opportunities the Kellogg study revealed, inspire more consumers to show pride for and invest in their community, and prove the untapped potential of increased business diversity in terms of jobs, economic empowerment, a stronger, more inclusive American economy, and increased racial equality.
Margarita, a first-generation Cuban-American, has a BA in Political Science from Emory University; and earned her MBA and JD from the University of Chicago, where President Barack Obama was her law professor and mentor. Before the experiment, she was an aide to Congressman John Lewis, a Political speechwriter, a corporate and legal strategy executive at McDonald’s Corporation, and a Strategy consultant.
Maggie lives in Oak Park, Illinois with her husband John (AB, Economics, Harvard University, 1993; MBA, Finance, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, 1999) and their two daughters, Cori and Cara.