Cleveland Foundation’s sixth biennial African American Philanthropy Summit going virtual
Activist and business leader Valeisha Butterfield Jones will be featured speaker
The sixth biennial African American Philanthropy Summit, presented by the African American Philanthropy Committee of the Cleveland Foundation, is going virtual and will take place Saturday, May 30, from 1-3 p.m. This year’s Summit, “2020 Vision: Disrupting the Cultural Landscape Through Philanthropy,” will highlight philanthropy in our community and focus on how to raise the visibility of those who have the passion and drive to create meaningful change.
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| Valeisha Butterfield Jones |
The 2020 African American Philanthropy Summit keynote will be delivered by Valeisha Butterfield Jones, business leader and co-founder and CEO of WEEN (Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network). Butterfield Jones will discuss how strategic giving can be a compass for transformational change during uncertain times.
Butterfield Jones’s career started at HBO Sports and has been centered at the intersections of technology, politics and entertainment. She formerly served as the National Youth Vote Director for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the International Trade Administration, as the Executive Director of Rush Communications and as the National Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The Clark Atlanta University graduate has been recognized for her work by Forbes Magazine, Essence Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, TheRoot100, and others. Butterfield Jones hosts the podcast “Off the Record with Valeisha” and is the author of The Girlprint, a career mentorship guidebook for young women.
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| Ronald V. Johnson, Jr. |
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| Ellen Burts-Cooper, PhD |
The African American Philanthropy Committee [AAPC] is co-chaired by Ellen Burts-Cooper, Ph.D., Senior Managing Partner, Improve Consulting and Training, and Ronald V. Johnson, Jr., Senior VP and Senior Counsel, KeyBank.
The AAPC was created as an advisory committee of the Cleveland Foundation in 1993 under the leadership of former Cleveland Foundation Executive Director and President Steven A. Minter. The committee launched the Summit in 2010 as a signature event to engage the African American community around charitable giving and to honor African American philanthropists in the region. The Committee also maintains a legacy fund at the Cleveland Foundation that supports a variety of nonprofit organizations within the African American community.
Honorary co-chairs for this year’s Summit are: Lonnie Coleman, President, Coleman Spohn Corporation; DontĂ© Gibbs, Manager of Community Outreach, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Don Graves Jr., Head of Corporate Responsibility & Community Relations, KeyBank; Alex Johnson, Ph.D., President, Cuyahoga Community College; Connie Hill-Johnson, Owner & Managing Director, Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services, and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors;
Also serving as honorary co-chairs: LaRese Purnell, Managing Partner, CLE Consulting; Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, M.D., Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals; and Ronald B. Richard, President & CEO, Cleveland Foundation.
The virtual Summit is free. Donations are encouraged to the African American Philanthropy Committee Legacy Fund, which supports the work of charitable organizations serving Greater Cleveland’s African American community. Proceeds from this event will be distributed by the committee to nonprofit organizations whose work is vital to helping those most impacted recover from effects of the current pandemic.
Register here by Friday, May 29. More details are available here. A link to the Zoom presentation will be emailed to registrants.
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Criminal Justice and COVID-19
Just as any halfway astute student of American history knew it was premature to declare that the election of Barack Obama was proof that America had become colorblind, there was little likelihood that the novel coronavirus would be an equal opportunity disease. Many of the reasons this silent killer of a disease is far more lethal for people of color are rooted in pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and heart disease.
But not to be overlooked are the socioeconomic conditions under which too many black and brown people live, the consequences of hundreds of years of racism effected by private American citizens and public policies intentionally drawn to reinforce subjugation.
So we certainly are not surprised that the coronavirus pandemic has proven a blessing to the likes of certain Americans, like Frank Russo, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Michael Avenatti, and a host of other white complexioned, white collar criminals. And we are even less surprised that tens of thousands of people of color whose crimes were far less heinous than those of Russo et al remain incarcerated in Ohio and across the country, where they remain sitting ducks for COVID-19.
The Greater Cleveland YWCA is one of our community’s institutions working to eradicate many of the inequities baked into our society. Education and dialogue are among their tools.
All this month, under the rubric, “Go Live for Equity”, the Y has been offering weekly sessions that have highlighted racism as a public health crisis, and the impact of COVID-19 on our fragile democracy and our uneven system of public education.
The series wraps tomorrow from 10-11am with a fourth and final Zoom webinar session that will examine our criminal justice system under the glare of the COVID spotlight.
Register here. The webinar is free and open to the public.
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Rabbi to speak on “Faith in Cleveland” at S.E. United Church of Christ
Cross-cultural exchanges do take place across our community, and we like to acknowledge those that appear especially genuine.
This Sunday, Rabbi Nosanchuk, senior rabbi of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood, will speak at the worship service of South Euclid United Church of Christ [SEUCC]. He will speak on "Faith in Cleveland".
The service will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, and SEUCC’s homepage.
The Rev. Courtney Clayton Jenkins, senior pastor at SEUCC, spoke at an Anshe Chesed sabbath service in January of this year.
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