GREENSBORO, N.C. - Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and chief executive officer of Act.1 Group in Torrance, Calif., received a honorary degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University at its Annual Fall Commencement on December 14.

Howroyd, who was keynote speaker for the Commencement, was presented The Doctor of Humanities degree.
A native of Tarboro, N.C., Howroyd, oversees the largest female owned minority staffing agency in the United States. ACT.1 employs more than 15,000 temporary "stars" and 300 full-time employees across the United States, with a national network of 77 offices and annual revenue exceeding $200 million. Her company services employer needs throughout California and in the metropolitan areas of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, D.C. Major clients include Sempra Energy, Ford Motor Company, Amgen, Toyota, The Gap and HealthNet.

To complement her core staffing business, Howroyd has established a number of affiliate companies as part of the ACT.1 Group including the California National University for Advanced Studies, which is a fully accredited distance learning university that offers bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration, engineering and human resources, and Enterprise Communications, which offers on-site managed creative and print purchasing services as business partners to its corporate clients. She also created A-Check America, which provides complete background and drug screening services.

Howroyd is affiliated with numerous organizations including The Academy of Business Leadership, the Board of Directors for Los Angeles Urban League, Los Angeles Economic Development Council, and the Torrance Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for Town Hall, Los Angeles.
Howroyd serves on the Women's Leadership Board Committee of the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPP) of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and on the Board of Regents for Loyola Marymount University.

Howroyd, who attended A&T, is serving as chair of the university's $100 million capital campaign's leadership steering committee.