Richelieu Dennis

Richelieu Dennis built Sundial Brands — the parent company of SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage — from a folding table on 125th Street in Harlem into a natural beauty empire that he sold to Unilever in 2017 for an estimated $1.6 billion. Then he did something unusual: he used the proceeds to create the New Voices Fund, a $100 million initiative investing exclusively in businesses owned by women of color.

Born in Liberia in 1969, Dennis came to the United States to attend Babson College on a scholarship. When civil war erupted in Liberia and his family's financial support was cut off, he and his college roommate began making and selling body care products using his grandmother's recipes from West Africa. What started as survival entrepreneurship became a mission-driven business.

Dennis's grandmother, Mary Dennis, had been making shea butter products in West African markets for decades. Her grandson scaled her wisdom into a global brand. SheaMoisture became the top-selling natural hair care brand in America, distributed in over 30,000 retail locations. After the Unilever acquisition, Dennis retained control of Sundial's Community Commerce model — a commitment to reinvesting in the communities that support the brand. The New Voices Fund has invested in over 70 businesses owned by women of color.