40 Next: Lanesha Anderson

In celebration of our 40th anniversary, Black Enterprise is taking a look both forward and backward at the world of black business. Our list of 40 Next celebrates the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.

These BE Nexters–those 21—35 years old making a measurable impact within their respective business, organization, industry, or field–are standouts

in the areas of entrepreneurship, corporate America, academia, nonprofit, the arts, and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). And they prove every day that “business as usual” is not so usual. For them, leveraging expertise in one area to maximize an opportunity in another is standard operating procedure.

Using the legacy of their business

predecessors to forge their own way, this new generation of leadership accepts the torch without trepidation. But the commonality between then and now is that success still takes a focused, strategic, and passionate mindset. Here, we introduce you to one of our 40 Next.

Lanesha Anderson, 35
Senior Legal Counsel
Shell Oil, Qatar
One of five

attorneys on the Shell legal team on assignment in Qatar, Anderson’s main responsibilities include managing construction agreements and partnerships as well as marketing and sales agreements for products produced at the Royal Dutch Shell Pearl gas to liquid (GTL) project, the world’s largest plant that converts natural gas into clean-burning liquid transport fuel.

Education
Bachelor of Science in Marketing from St. Louis University (1997)
Juris Doctor and MBA from University of Tulsa (2000)

Favorite Book
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

BE Next Manifesto
I want to start a series of schools for minority girls with a curriculum focused on math and science, thus encouraging students to consider professions in fields like business, engineering, and medicine.