HEATHER LOWERY
PRESIDENT/CEO, FEMME IT FORWARD
EARLIER IN NOVEMBER, Heather Lowery announced that Femme It Forward, the female-led music and entertainment platform that she founded, was holding its first Give Her FlowHERS Awards gala. The event, held Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, was conceived as a fundraiser for Femme It Forward’s mentorship program, Next Gem Femme. The gala “is a realization of the work we do year-round with Femme It Forward,” Lowery says, “to champion, empower and celebrate the women who are pushing our culture forward every day.”
First-time special awards honorees, announced before the gala, include breakthrough hip-hop star Latto (Big Femme Energy Award); actress, social media personality and entrepreneur Tabitha Brown (Self-Love Award); songwriter-artist Jozzy (Pen It Forward Award); R&B singer-songwriter Muni Long (Bloom Award); Lashon Jones, mother of rapper Lil Baby (Moms I’d Like To Follow, or M.I.L.F. Award); singer-songwriter Victoria Monet (Visionary Award); and high-profile couple Ciara and Russell Wilson (Black Love Award).
Executive mentors, who were chosen by vote by their Next Gem Femme mentees for their impact, include Baroline Diaz (Interscope), Dimplez Ijeoma (Capitol Music Group), Madeline Nelson (Amazon Music), Nicole Wyskoarko (Interscope Geffen A&M), Valeisha Butterfield Jones (Google), Alex Maxwell (Live Nation) and Diana Dotel (MTW Agency).
Rising artists chosen to perform at the gala included Baby Tate; Mapy, The Violin Queen; Joyce Wrice; and Alex Vaughn, while Jasmine Solano was set to DJ at the afterparty.
Since 2019, Lowery has led Femme It Forward, which was launched under the Live Nation Urban banner. Now, it is a joint venture with parent Live Nation Entertainment. Its mission is to celebrate, educate and empower the industry’s “most creative and accomplished female visionaries through multiformat, multimarket consumer experiences,” according to the organization.
“I’m so proud of the many achievements by our incredible Femme It Forward team,” says Lowery.
“This year alone we presented four headlining female R&B tours featuring Sevyn Streeter, Alex Isley with Green Bunn, LAYA and Zyah Belle, Teyana Taylor and the Big Femme Energy Live Orchestra Experience featuring Ambre, Baby Rose and SayGRACE.
“We executed our Femme It Forward show series, which featured multiple lineups with emerging and established female R&B artists including Ari Lennox, Queen Naija, Ashanti, Mya, Muni Long, Tank and the Bangas, SWV, Faith Evans and 702.
“And finally, we produced the Serenade series featuring male R&B artists like Boyz II Men, Ty Dolla $ign, dvsn, 112, Dru Hill and Omarion. It has been a huge year for Femme It Forward,” says Lowery, “and we’re only going to push this positive energy forward.”