Janet Emerson Bashen

Black History Spotlight: Day #22

Contribution: Software inventor who blazed trails in business.

Age: 65

Mini Bio:

J anet Emerson Bashen is the first African American woman to hold a software patent. In 1994, she began her own business, working at her kitchen table in her Texas home. She wanted to help people who had not been treated fairly at their jobs because of their skin color or religion, or other reasons. Now the Bashen Corporation is well known across the country. It has helped thousands of people, and Janet has received many honors.

Janet was born in Ohio.
Her family moved to Huntsville in Alabama when she was a little girl.
Her dad worked hard as a garbage collector.
Her mom was the first African American emergency-room nurse in Huntsville.
Janet studied law and government in college in Texas, where she still lives.
Her web-based software invention, LinkLine, made it much easier to make and track equal employment opportunity claims.