Empowering African Nations Since 1981
Reverend Leon H. Sullivan
Born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1922, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan was able to transform an early rugged existence into a life that exemplified the benefits of a strong work ethic and self-reliance. He demonstrated that erasing hatred, racism and injustice required more than a commitment to a higher transcendent ideal. It required tools and opportunities to transform despair into hope.
During his lifelong career as Pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia and his founding of the Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) in 1964, OIC International in 1969 and IFESH in 1981, Sullivan sought to correct injustice by providing training and opportunities to the most vulnerable members of society: women, children, the unemployed and the illiterate. With the establishment of IFESH, Reverend Sullivan expanded upon the concept of providing training to the poor to encompass a strong emphasis on self-reliance and encouraging indigenous mechanisms for resource mobilization and growth. These same self-help concepts are now employed by numerous nongovernmental organizations working in Africa and around the world today.
In 1971, Reverend Sullivan became the first African American appointed to the Board of Directors of a Fortune 500 company when he accepted a seat on General Motors' board. He used his position with GM to launch an international campaign to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. He developed the Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for human rights and equal opportunity for companies operating in that country. The Sullivan Principles were one of the most effective efforts to end racial discrimination in the workplace in South Africa, and directly contributed to the ending of apartheid.
In the late 1990s, Reverend Sullivan brought world and business leaders together to expand the successful Sullivan Principles into the Global Sullivan Principles. In November 1999, at a special session at the United Nations Headquarters, Sullivan and then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan formally introduced these new principles. The aim of the Global Sullivan Principles is to improve human rights, social justice and economic fairness throughout the world.
In addition to holding honorary doctorate degrees from over 50 colleges and universities, Reverend Sullivan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 by President George H. W. Bush, honoring him for his "voice of reason for over forty years" and a lifetime of work in helping the economically and socially disadvantaged people in the world. In November 1999, he received the prestigious Notre Dame Award, which is conferred annually on a "person who has achieved international recognition for the contribution to the welfare of humanity." In December 1999, he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from President Bill Clinton who recognized Reverend Sullivan's humanitarian efforts around the world.
Reverend Leon H. Sullvan authored the following books:
America is Theirs: And other Poems (1948)
Build Brother Build (1969) ISBN# 9780825584602
Alternatives to Despair (1972) ISBN# 0817005706
Philosophy of a Giant (1979)
Moving Mountains (1998) ISBN# 0817013601
