The Hill’s Changemakers: Sheila Johnson, Salamander Hotels & Resorts CEO and philanthropist

Sheila Johnson says she’s never been one to shy away from an uphill battle. 

“I love challenges. I’m a risk-taker,” Johnson said in a September interview with “PBS NewsHour.” 

Some of those challenges include co-founding Black Entertainment Television, known as BET, in 1980. The first Black woman to become a billionaire, Johnson is the CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts and a partner and vice chair of Monumental Sports and Entertainment. 

She’s also a part owner of three Washington sports teams: the Mystics, the Wizards and the Capitals. 

“I was always drawn to places that Black people don’t usually go,” the business executive and philanthropist wrote in her memoir, which was released in the fall. 

This year, that meant hopping in the saddle to steer a unique undertaking. Johnson, the vice chair of the board for the Trust for the National Mall, spearheaded the creation of new, state-of-the-art horse stables near the Korean War Veterans Memorial. 

The stables on the National Mall, which opened to the public in June and include an educational center, are home to the horses used by the U.S. Park Police. The new horse-centric digs, funded by private donations, replaced the original stables that were built in 1976. 

“Horses are as important to America’s history as any living creature, including man,” Johnson said at a Trust for the National Mall gala earlier this year. 

At 74, it’s one of many projects that Johnson has her hand in. Johnson has described herself as being in her “third act” in life, and happier than she’s ever been. 

“These doors would open, and I said, ‘Why can’t I go through them?’” Johnson told PBS. “And I decided I was going to go through every door that came my way.”