NationAL Advisory Council
Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder in Residence, PolicyLink
Angela Glover Blackwell is Founder in Residence at PolicyLink, the organization she started in 1999 to advance racial and economic equity for all.
Donna Brazile
Veteran Political Strategist, Adjunct Professor, Author and Syndicated Columnist
Fox News contributor and veteran political strategist Donna Brazile is the former interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee and became the first African American woman to serve as the manager of a major party presidential campaign, running the campaign of former Vice President Al Gore.
William "Bill" Bynum
Chief Executive Officer, Hope Credit Union
For more than three decades, Bill Bynum has worked to advance economic opportunity for disenfranchised populations. He began his professional career in North Carolina by helping to establish Self-Help, a pioneer in the development finance industry, and later built nationally recognized programs at the NC Rural Economic Development Center.
The Honorable BILL Clinton
42nd President of the United States
William Jefferson Clinton, the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice, led the U.S. to the longest economic expansion in American history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs.
Michelle Ebanks
Chief Executive Officer, Essence Communications Inc.
Michelle Ebanks serves as Chief Executive Officer of Essence Communications Inc., the number one media, technology and commerce company dedicated to Black women with a global brand reach of over 20 million.
Oskar Eustis
Artistic Director, Public Theater of New York City
has served as the artistic director of The Public Theater since 2005, after serving as the artistic director at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI from 1994 to 2005.
Drew Gilpin Faust
President Emeritus, Harvard University
As president of Harvard from 2007 to 2018, Faust expanded financial aid to improve access to Harvard College for students of all economic backgrounds and advocated for increased federal funding for scientific research.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Founder and President, Emerson Collective
Laurene Powell Jobs is founder and president of Emerson Collective. Based in Palo Alto with a strong presence in Oakland, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., Emerson Collective uses philanthropy, impact investing, and promoting policy solutions to reimagine some of society's most calcified systems and create new possibilities for individuals, families, and communities.
Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D.
President and CEO, UNCF (United Negro College Fund)
Since 2004, Dr. Michael L. Lomax has served as president and CEO of UNCF, the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to African American students and a leading advocate of college readiness: students’ need for an education, from pre-school through high school, that prepares them for college success.
Fred Luter, Jr.
Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, Former President, Southern Baptist Convention
Fred J. Luter Jr. (born 1956 November 11 in New Orleans) is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He was elected on 2012 June 19, and he is SBC's first African-American president.
Marc H. Morial
President and CEO, National Urban League
Marc Morial, who has been described as one of the few national leaders to possess “street smarts”, and “boardroom savvy”, is the current President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization.
Adam Silver
Commissioner, National Basketball Association
Silver presides over a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, NBA G League and NBA 2K League.
Cleo Wade
Author & Activist
Her poetry, artwork, and prose speaks to our collective power to create change through an individual commitment to self-care, beloved community building, and social justice.
Darren Walker
President, Ford Foundation
Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, an international social justice philanthropy with a $13 billion endowment and $600 million in annual grant making.
HONORARY NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Congressman Lewis was a guiding light for our nation. His life and words were a constant and steady reminder of how far we have come as a nation but also how far we have to go. His constant pursuit of liberty and justice for all, whatever the odds, whatever the risks, was uniquely American.
Over his lifetime, Rep. Lewis put himself on the front lines, many times risking his life in the fight to recognize the humanity and dignity of all people, including the right to vote--our most basic and sacred right in this democracy.
We were honored to have had Congressman Lewis on our National Advisory Council. Our march towards racial justice, our pursuit of common good is in his name. In his honor, we must build a real bridge to the future that we can walk across together. We can’t let anybody turn us around.
The Honorable John Lewis
United States Representative (GA-5)
Often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community” in America.