The National Black Chamber of Commerce announced this week the death of its co-founder, Kay DeBow on July 19, 2021.
Kay, as she was affectionately known, was named Kayanne at birth on December 12, 1957, to the parents of Charles DeBow Jr. and Aurelia Jane Stuart in Indianapolis, Indiana
Her father, Charles DeBow Jr. was one of the first four Tuskegee Airmen, serving in World War II. Kay’s maternal family were the Stuarts, who were entrepreneurs, owning several successful businesses in the greater Indianapolis area.
A graduate of Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, she received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. She began her professional career at Colgate-Palmolive in Detroit, Michigan. It was in Detroit on June 8, 1980, Kay met husband-to-be Harry Cicero Alford Jr, her fellow NBCC co-founder.
The Alfords made their home in Indianapolis. Kay pursued government work and at the height of that work she became the director of marketing for the Hoosier State Lottery in Indiana.
When Kay DeBow Alford and her husband Harry left Indianapolis, Indiana and moved to Washington, D.C. in September 1994, they had already founded the National Black Chamber of Commerce on May 23, 1993.
They had begun locally to fill the void of a Black business organization by founding the Hoosier.
Kay and Harry Alford took the business mission to new heights.
The organization, comprised of chapters throughout the United States expanded its reach internationally to France, Mexico, England, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Kenya, and Ghana.
“Kay was the backbone of the National Black Chamber, the mother and driving force behind the great accomplishments of the NBCC. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her and who benefitted from her tireless drive to make the nation better for all Black business owners,” said Larry Ivory, chairman of the NBCC and President/CEO of the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce.
“We will continue her legacy to fight for the improvement of African American communities throughout the Black Diaspora.”
