Special Contributions: Profiles of Leaders
SINCE THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, there has been a virtual renaissance in the leadership of communities of color. Leaders have stepped forward in unprecedented numbers and answered the call to serve, and they are guiding their communities with a deep sense of purpose. Yet these leaders, their incredible leadership journeys, and the many lessons they offer are relatively unknown outside of their communities, particularly in mainstream America. I believe these leaders hold up a lantern of hope that can guide us over the troubled waters of the twenty-first century. Their integrity and deep compassion for humanity can help to shape a more caring and responsible world.
It has been my privilege to interview the outstanding and visionary leaders profiled here and to draw from their wisdom and experience in writing this book. I hope that this book brings their inspiring stories to a wider audience and integrates their contributions into a new direction for leadership. (Unless otherwise noted, all the quotations from these special contributors that appear in this book come from personal interviews conducted with them, which were transcribed verbatim and then coded for common themes and patterns.)
African American Leaders
Dr. Jim Joseph has served four U.S. presidents. President Clinton appointed him chairman of the Corporation for National Service and U.S. ambassador to South Africa. He was the only American ambassador to present his credentials to President Nelson Mandela. In 1999, President Thabo Mbeki awarded him the Order of Good Hope, the highest honor the Republic of South Africa bestows on a citizen of another country. Dr. Joseph was formerly president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, and currently he is Emeritus Professor of the Practice of Public Policy as well as Director, United States–Southern Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values, both at Duke University. An ordained minister, he taught at Yale Divinity School and the Claremont Colleges. His writings include “Promoting Peace and Diplomacy” in Nelson Mandela: From Freedom to the Future; and Remaking America: How the Benevolent Traditions of Many Cultures Are Transforming Our National Life.
Dr. Lea E. Williams currently serves as the associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at North Carolina A&T State University. She is the former executive director of the National African-American Women’s Leadership Institute, Inc. (NAAWLI), a leadership program for women that helps them discover their leadership talents and use these in community service. Dr. Williams began her career in higher education at the United Negro College Fund. She authored Servants of the People: The 1960s Legacy of African American Leadership, documenting the tradition of Black Americans as dedicated servant leaders.
Andrew Young was a top aide to Martin Luther King Jr. and a frontrunner in the civil rights movement. As vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he was instrumental in crafting the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Young was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and later served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Carter. As a two-term mayor of Atlanta, he led an economic rebirth. An ordained minister, Young was the head of the National Council of Churches and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has authored two books, A Way Out of No Way and An Easy Burden.
American Indian Leaders
Ada Deer was the first woman to head the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Under her leadership, tribal sovereignty was advanced to 180 additional tribes. As the first woman elected chair of the Menominee Nation, she led the movement for federal recognition of her tribe. Deer directed the American Indian Studies Program in the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. During her tenure, she cofounded Milwaukee’s Indian Community School and created the first program to provide social work training on Native American reservations. Deer was the first Indian woman to run for the U.S. Congress in Wisconsin.
John Echohawk is a cofounder and executive director of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and has been with the organization since its founding in 1977. A member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, he was one of the first graduates of the University of New Mexico’s special program to train Indian lawyers and a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association. Echohawk has worked to correct centuries-old injustices for Indian tribes for over forty years. Since 1988 he has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America and has received numerous service awards for his leadership in the field of Indian law.
LaDonna Harris, Comanche, is one of the most influential, inspired, and determined Native Americans in politics. Since 1970, she has served as president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, which catalyzes and facilitates culturally appropriate initiatives that enrich the lives of indigenous peoples. Harris was instrumental in helping the Taos Pueblo regain control of Blue Lake, and helped the Menominee gain federal recognition after their tribe had been terminated by the U.S. federal government. Her publications include To Govern or Be Governed: Indian Tribes at a Crossroads and her autobiography, LaDonna Harris: A Comanche Life.
Benny Shendo Jr., a native of the Jemez Pueblo, was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson as cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. Secretary Shendo was the senior manager of Native American Programs for the University of New Mexico and director of the American Indian and Alaskan Native program at Stanford University. He serves on the National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education and cofounded the Riverside School in Jemez Pueblo—the first charter school on an Indian reservation. In 2008 he made a bid for the third congressional district seat in New Mexico.
Latino Leaders
Anna Escobedo Cabral held the office of Treasurer of the United States until 2008. Previously, she directed the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Latino Initiatives. Cabral also served as president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of the sixteen largest Hispanic nonprofits that advance Hispanic representation in corporate America. From 1993 to 1999, she was deputy staff director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Orrin G. Hatch and executive staff director of the Senate Republican Task Force on Hispanic Affairs. Currently Anna holds a leadership position at the Inter-America Development Bank that supports economic development throughout South America and the Caribbean.
Dr. Antonia Pantoja, the first lady of the Puerto Rican civil rights movement, described herself as an “institution builder.” Though she passed away in 2002, her profound legacy continues shaping Puerto Rican youth through ASPIRA (to aspire), which instills cultural pride, leadership, and motivation. Dr. Pantoja was the first Puerto Rican woman to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the John W. Gardner Leadership Award. It was my honor to work with her on the curriculum for the National Hispana Leadership Institute and to review interviews for a film on her life—Antonia Pantoja: Abriendo Caminos (Opening Pathways, 2006). Her autobiography, Memoir of a Visionary, was published by Arte Publico Press in 2002.
Federico Peña served as cochair of the historic 2008 Barack Obama campaign, assisting with the phenomenal increase in voting by communities of color. He was elected mayor of Denver in 1983 and 1987, the first Latino mayor of a city with a minority Hispanic population. He revitalized Denver’s economic health by initiating projects such as the Denver International Airport, a new convention center, and the Coors Baseball Stadium. A civil rights lawyer, Peña served in the Colorado House of Representatives and as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Secretary of Energy during the Clinton administration. Peña is currently the managing director for Vestar Capital Partners.
Raul Yzaguirre served as cochair of Hillary Clinton’s valiant bid for the presidency in 2008. He was president of the National Council of La Raza for more than thirty years, building it into the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in America. He is a founder of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility, the New American Alliance, and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. Recognized as one of the most influential Hispanic leaders of the twentieth century, Yzaguirre was the first Hispanic to receive a Rockefeller Award for Outstanding Public Service from the trustees of Princeton University and the John W. Gardner Leadership Award. He was appointed the ambassador to the Dominican Republic by President Obama in 2010.