Monique Greenwood

CEO, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns

Washington, D.C.

Monique Greenwood, a master multi tasker on a mission, is the former Essence magazine editor taking the hospitality industry by storm. Launched in 1995, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns is her impressive collection of five historic B&Bs in Brooklyn, NY, Cape May, NJ, Washington, DC, and the recently opened Mansion at Noble Lane, a boutique resort on a 22 acre former Woolworth estate in Pennsylvania's Poconos Mountains. Ranked five stars on Trip Advisor and selected the winner of The Travel Channel’s Hotel Showdown, Akwaaba’s inns attract guests from all over the world who get spoiled by the company’s old fashioned graciousness and modern day amenities. Yes, there is wireless internet, but there are also candlelit bubble baths with rose petals. When guests check out, Monique's goal is that they leave pampered and poised to live their best lives.

Monique's mission to help people "take their joy off layaway" has been evident in every aspect of her professional career, as editor in chief of Essence, as author of the best selling book Having What Matters: The Black Woman's Guide to Creating the Life You Really Want (Harper Collins), and as developer of a block she and her husband purchased in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to create an upscale retail strip featuring eateries and shops owned and operated by people of color from the neighborhood.

A first generation college graduate, Monique earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Howard University’s School of Communications in her hometown of Washington, D.C. The community builder and avid advocate for small businesses serves on several professional and civic boards and is back at Howard University as the inaugural John H. Johnson Endowed Chair for Entrepreneurship. Monique has been married to Glenn Pogue for 26 years, and the two have a 24 year old daughter, Glynn, who she considers to be her best work.