Ariel DeNey Rainey
2025-2026 Obama Foundation USA Leader
Founder and CEO, Hustle Mommies
Oak Park, Illinois
Ariel DeNey Rainey is the founder and chief executive officer of Hustle Mommies, a national nonprofit transforming the narrative around Black motherhood by equipping urban moms to lead in business, policy, and the community. Driven by her own experience as a teen mom, Ariel mobilized over 3,500 mothers across the country through trauma-informed advocacy, economic empowerment, and entrepreneurship. Under her leadership, Hustle Mommies launched Paint the Hood Orange—a movement to address gun violence through maternal leadership—and helped secure over $125,000 in startup funding for Black mom-owned businesses. Ariel created the Urban Mom Collective National Coalition for Black Moms, where she partners with Latina and Palestinian mothers to build an intersectional policy agenda that resulted in the creation of the Black Mom State of the Union dinner and virtual workshops on policy and advocacy for mothers, even when navigating tensions within and across communities. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in social work and is committed to reshaping systems that too often marginalize mothers like her.
Meet the 2025-2026 United States Leaders
More about the Leaders Program
Leaders
For emerging leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the common good.
Learn More
- The Center
- Building the Center
- Defending Democracy
- Leaders
- Watch
- Barack Obama