The The Sparkle of Leadership

In every room she enters, Ebony Beckwith radiates a presence that’s equal parts grace and command. She isn’t just a leader—she’s an architect of culture, a woman who has spent her career rewriting what it looks like to hold power in spaces not built for her.

Her journey began in San Francisco, where she first glimpsed the energy of corporate life through her mother’s office. “I remember just being amazed,” she recalls. “Tearing up at the women and men in their power suits.” Even as a child, Beckwith wasn’t content to be on the sidelines. “I always really wanted to be a boss,” she laughs. “With no title, just a boss.”

Those instincts followed her from free camper to corporate executive. One of her earliest mentors, the late Bernard Tyson—then CEO of Kaiser—treated her as if she already belonged at the table. “He would even give me his chair,” she remembers. “Sitting across from me as though I was already the boss.” That kind of affirmation planted a seed that continues to define her leadership today.

But Beckwith is quick to reject old myths of leadership as a rigid, masculine ideal. “I used to believe leaders had to be tough and firm—that leadership was a male sport,” she reflects. “But every leader brings their unique gifts and talents. You have to just be authentic.”

That authenticity became her hallmark—especially during what she calls her “sparkle moment.” While caring for her two grandmothers and leading a demanding team, she unknowingly dimmed her light. “My team had the courage to tell me I’d lost my sparkle,” she says. “I didn’t realize how I showed up as a leader impacted them.” The lesson wasn’t about perfection, but about humanity. She gathered her team, ditched the PowerPoints, and simply talked. “It was like permission to be human. If we ever saw each other losing our sparkle, we had the language to call it out.”

For Beckwith, leadership is not a one-way street. “My team teaches me just as much as I’m teaching them,” she says. “It’s bi-directional. I always want to be learning and growing.”

That ethos is now the foundation of her next act: Framework, the venture she launched after nearly two decades at Salesforce. For Beckwith, stepping into entrepreneurship isn’t just career evolution—it’s a reclamation. “It is really fun to bet on yourself,” she says. “It’s scary and overwhelming, but people are so willing to help. All you have to do is ask.”

Framework carries one of her core truths: you don’t have to erase yourself to evolve. She’s embracing imperfection, leaning into process, and proving that reinvention doesn’t mean losing who you are—it means expanding who you can be.

Looking ahead, Beckwith is clear about her vision. “You can have so many career pivots. You can reinvent yourself regardless of where you come from,” she says. “I want to pave the way for girls like me and show that a Jill of all trades—or what I call a Swiss Army knife—is far more valuable than people realize.”

Of course, style remains central to her presence. When asked about her boardroom essentials, she doesn’t hesitate: “Black high heels, power lipstick, and a blazer. Anything that gives you confidence.”

In Beckwith’s world, sparkle isn’t surface—it’s substance. It’s the courage to lead with humanity, the elegance to own your style, and the audacity to reinvent without erasure. That is the new face of leadership. And that is Ebony Beckwith.