Teaching can be a rewarding career, but for many Black women, it can be a very challenging one to sustain. According to a recent report, Black teachers are more likely to leave the profession and are exiting in record numbers. Millennials and Gen Zers make up a large portion of educators, and the Learning Policy Institute reported in 2019 that the demand for teachers had exceeded supply by more than 100,000 positions—confirming that there’s a severe gap in the pipeline from college-to-classroom for new educators.
Many have loved and watched shows like Abbott Elementary, a fictional depiction of some very real-life issues inspired by former Philadelphia Public Schools veteran Joyce Abbott. Whether a parent, educator, or student, as Black women we've known all well the challenges we all face when it comes to the educational system.
Let's explore the issue and a few tips on burnout and career transitioning for Black women in education:
Why Are Black Teachers Quitting?
For some, it's really not about the act of teaching being the problem. It's the red tape, the constant pressures they face from state and institutional authorities, and the lack of resources. State reports indicate that Black teachers have the highest rates of turnover in education, with "major culprits" being stress, low pay, and intrusion of politics.
There's also the issue of Black and Hispanic teachers being more likely to not have certification in major markets where there are shortages, or they're teaching in an underfunded district. These factors, according to experts, are associated with the higher rates of professionals leaving as well. When in such situations, it's more likely that an educator might quit due to the added pressures and challenging environment.
Pay for teachers, according to statistics, has not changed in 30 years (yes, you read that right), so one can only imagine the very demoralizing impact of the salary issue. The pay has not even begun to catch up with inflation. It's gotten to the point where legislation has been introduced on the federal and state levels just to ensure parity and a decent working wage for teachers.
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Beating Burnout and Transitioning Out
With teachers leaving the industry or using their skills of people management, lesson planning, and communications in other ways (à la Tiffany "The Budgetnista" Aliche), there are ways to not only beat burnout but go into something a bit more fitting for the stage of life you might be in.
Experts at The University of San Diego offer the following tips for beating burnout:
Prioritize your health: Be sure you're eating balanced meals and putting your mental and physical wellness first. Seeking therapy, exercising regularly, and taking on a fun new activity are a great start. Find ways to boost emotional intelligence.
Lean into your resources for educator support: Talk with your fellow teaching network and organizations, and participate even if it's virtual. Be sure you're tapping into all the support resources afforded to you.
Advocate for yourself: Keeping track of your successes, speaking up about promotions or other benefits, and going to where you are loved and valued are steps you can take as well.
Set work-life boundaries: When possible, leave work at the school and be present in the moments of rest and self-love at home.
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For those looking to transition out, sit down and create a good exit plan both related to your career and your finances. Think about how you can use your transitional skills to pursue a different career, start a side hustle, or work in a different aspect of education. Tap into what led you into teaching in the first place and go from there. If everything seems a bit overwhelming, seek the help of a coach or consultant who can help you navigate the journey of the career transition.
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So, we handpicked one hundred It Girls who embody that palpable It Factor moving through us as young Black women, the kind of motion lighting up the world both IRL and across the internet.
It Girl 100 became xoNecole’s most successful program, with the hashtag organically reaching more than forty million impressions on Instagram in just twenty-four hours. Yes, it caught on like wildfire because we celebrated some of the most brilliant and influential GenZennial women of color setting trends and shaping culture. But more than that, it resonated because the women we celebrated felt seen.
Many were already known in their industries for keeping this generation fly and lit, but rarely received recognition or flowers. It Girl 100 became a safe space to be uplifted, and for us as Black women to bask in what felt like an era of our brilliance, beauty, and boundless influence on full display.
And then, almost overnight, it was as if the rug was pulled from under us as Black women, as the It Girls of the world.
Our much-needed, much-deserved season of ease and soft living quickly metamorphosed into a time of self-preservation and survival. Our motion and economic progression seemed strategically slowed, our light under siege.
The air feels heavier now. The headlines colder. Our Black girl magic is being picked apart and politicized for simply existing.
With that climate shift, as we prepare to launch our second annual It Girl 100 honoree list, our team has had to dig deep on the purpose and intention behind this year’s list. Knowing the spirit of It Girl 100 is about motion, sauce, strides, and progression, how do we celebrate amid uncertainty and collective grief when the juice feels like it is being squeezed out of us?
As we wrestled with that question, we were reminded that this tension isn’t new. Black women have always had to find joy in the midst of struggle, to create light even in the darkest corners. We have carried the weight of scrutiny for generations, expected to be strong, to serve, to smile through the sting. But this moment feels different. It feels deeply personal.
We are living at the intersection of liberation and backlash. We are learning to take off our capes, to say no when we are tired, to embrace softness without apology.
And somehow, the world has found new ways to punish us for it.
In lifestyle, women like Kayla Nicole and Ayesha Curry have been ridiculed for daring to choose themselves. Tracee Ellis Ross was labeled bitter for speaking her truth about love. Meghan Markle, still, cannot breathe without critique.
In politics, Kamala Harris, Letitia James, and Jasmine Crockett are dragged through the mud for standing tall in rooms not built for them.
In sports, Angel Reese, Coco Gauff, and Taylor Townsend have been reminded that even excellence will not shield you from racism or judgment.
In business, visionaries like Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye and Melissa Butler are fighting to keep their dreams alive in an economy that too often forgets us first.
Even our icons, Beyoncé, Serena, and SZA, have faced criticism simply for evolving beyond the boxes society tried to keep them in.
From everyday women to cultural phenoms, the pattern is the same. Our light is being tested.
And yet, somehow, through it all, we are still showing up as that girl, and that deserves to be celebrated.
Because while the world debates our worth, we keep raising our value. And that proof is all around us.
This year alone, Naomi Osaka returned from motherhood and mental health challenges to reach the semifinals of the US Open. A’ja Wilson claimed another MVP, reminding us that beauty and dominance can coexist. Brandy and Monica are snatching our edges on tour. Kahlana Barfield Brown sold out her new line in the face of a retailer that had been canceled. And Melissa Butler’s company, The Lip Bar, is projecting a forty percent surge in sales.
We are no longer defining strength by how much pain we can endure. We are defining it by the unbreakable light we continue to radiate.
We are the women walking our daily steps and also continuing to run solid businesses. We are growing in love, taking solo trips, laughing until it hurts, raising babies and ideas, drinking our green juice, and praying our peace back into existence.
We are rediscovering the joy of rest and realizing that softness is not weakness, it is strategy.
And through it all, we continue to lift one another. Emma Grede is creating seats at the table. Valeisha Butterfield has started a fund for jobless Black women. Arian Simone is leading in media with fearless conviction. We are pouring into each other in ways the world rarely sees but always feels.
So yes, we are in the midst of societal warfare. Yes, we are being tested. Yes, we are facing economic strain, political targeting, and public scrutiny. But even war cannot dim a light that is divinely ours.
And we are still shining.
And we are still softening.
And we are still creating.
And we are still It.
That is the quiet magic of Black womanhood, our ability to hold both truth and triumph in the same breath, to say yes, and to life’s contradictions.
It is no coincidence that this year, as SheaMoisture embraces the message “Yes, And,” they stand beside us as partners in celebrating this class of It Girls. Because that phrase, those two simple words, capture the very essence of this moment.
Yes, we are tired. And we are still rising.
Yes, we are questioned. And we are the answer.
Yes, we are bruised. And we are still beautiful.
This year’s It Girl 100 is more than a list. It is a love letter to every Black woman who dares to live out loud in a world that would rather she whisper. This year’s class is living proof of “Yes, And,” women who are finding ways to thrive and to heal, to build and to rest, to lead and to love, all at once.
It is proof that our joy is not naive, our success not accidental. It is the reminder that our light has never needed permission.
So without further ado, we celebrate the It Girl 100 Class of 2025–2026.
We celebrate the millions of us who keep doing it with grace, grit, and glory.
Because despite it all, we still shine.
Because we are still her.
Because we are still IT, girl.
Meet all 100 women shaping culture in the It Girl 100 Class of 2025. View the complete list of honorees here.
Featured image by xoStaff
