Despite ample research in the fields of organizational behavior and human resource management regarding employee decisions to voluntarily opt out of corporate leadership positions, there is little research exploring the personal experiences of black women in U.S. companies contemplating leaving executive positions. This research leverages a qualitative interpretative phenomenological study to explore why Black women corporate leaders in the United States are leaving corporate America before reaching the C-Suite. Two studies were conducted to understand the lived experiences of Black women executives in U.S. Fortune 500 companies; moreover, study two further explored and detangled some of the themes from Study One to understand the experiences of the black women leaders in the pipeline for senior management more deeply. The findings identify several environmental factors, explored in depth in this dissertation, that impact executives’ decision to leave corporate America. The findings provide a foundation to understand further the impact of the corporate environment resulting in the loss of top diverse talent in this understudied demographic. These findings also provide critical information for the Black woman executive currently working in corporate America as well as those who have opted to leave early and would like to better digest their experiences. / Business Administration/Human Resource Management