Africa Policy Forum: September 24-28, Atlanta, GA
Her looks and fashion sense could easily lead you to think she is a either a model or modeling agent in Paris, France, an Advertising Executive in New York or an A-List actress in Hollywood, but she is none of those. Hope Masters is President and CEO of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, Washington, DC, a less glamorous job and position she has held since 2002 after her father’s passing in 2001. She has dedicated her life to championing the selfless, Africa-focused humanitarian work of her late father, Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan. With the support of Ambassador Andrew Young (board chair), former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former Mayor of Atlanta, Hope established the Leon Sullivan Foundation to continue and preserve her father’s legacy throughout the next generation. She proudly refers to her work as “the embodiment of a daughter’s love.”
Asked whether she always knew she would step into her father’s big shoes she replied “no, I am a lawyer…I have always worked, I have always been a part of the work. I started working for my father when I was 15 during summers. I have always felt it, I have always been a part of it, I have always loved Africa it’s something that is in you.”
Inspired by the life and principles of Leon H. Sullivan, the Foundation exists to promote the political, entrepreneurial, and intellectual leadership of the African Diaspora and friends of Africa, and to advocate on behalf of Africa and the world’s vulnerable people. The collaborative – styled work is essentially a model of self help and empowerment to the people of Africa. The work of the Foundation revolves around the following pillars and programs.
- Leon H. Sullivan Summits
- Global Sullivan Principles
- Government and Public Advocacy
- Forums and Town Hall Meetings
Summits: This year, and for the first time ever, the Foundation has organized and scheduled the Africa Policy Forum: A Vision for the 21st Century for the United States. (Atlanta, Georgia), September 24-28. The Forum has been designed to bridge the gap between Africa (ns) and America (ns) and will include sessions and activities like a policy forum on the Obama Administration's policy on Africa, networking opportunities, entertainment, critical education, media panels, health and economic opportunities and live cultural events. The forum hopes to attract members of the African Diaspora. Every two years, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation convenes thousands of delegates from Africa, America, the Caribbean and Europe to an African country for the Leon H. Sullivan Summit - the largest Diaspora gathering in the world. The Leon H. Sullivan Summit is one of the world’s premier international conferences held on the African Continent.
The Summits were founded by the late Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan and have been held since 1991. Each Summit focuses on building a bridge of opportunity from Africa to the developed world. The organization also uses its relationships with corporate America to access resources for underprivileged communities in Africa. It recently fulfilled a financial pledge to the Manyatta Primary School in Arusha, Tanzania, delivered a large well to the region, provided over 1 million books to Africa, partners with developers to build schools and hospitals and provides medical supplies. Hope Sullivan summarizes the work of the Foundation in terms of advocacy and bridge building between the African-American community in the United States and the African continent. "...We are striving to build the bridge to the continent, over which people travel and opportunity, investment can get to Africa. Our most important role is to reconnect the lost sons and daughters of the continent back home and in that process bring expertise with them..."
After her studies in law at Temple University in 1989, Hope brought her legal training to developing and supporting programs within OIC America (Opportunities Industrialization Center) and IFESH, (International Foundation for Education and Self Help) two of the organizations that her father established. She played a vital role in the planning of the first Leon H. Sullivan Summit and supported the development of the Global Sullivan Principle of Social Responsibility in the early 90s.
Reverend Leon H. Sullivan has long been recognized as a man of unparalleled vision and action. In 1963, Life Magazine cited him as one of the 100 outstanding young adults in the United States, a prophecy which later became true of him around the globe. Born in Charleston, West Virginia, Sullivan became a Baptist minister at age 18 and eventually moved to Philadelphia to become pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in 1950. His exemplary lifetime service to humanity was birthed from the pulpit where he could clearly see the needs of his community and resolved to address it.
In 1971, Dr. 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 reform apartheid in South Africa, developing the Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for human rights and equal opportunity for companies operating in South Africa. The Sullivan Principles are considered one of the most effective efforts to end discrimination against blacks in the workplace in South Africa, thus directly contributing to the dismantling of apartheid. In 1988, Reverend Sullivan retired from Zion Baptist Church and moved on with his vision to provide a model of self-help and empowerment to the people of Africa. He began using his talent for bringing world leaders together to find solutions to international issues through the establishment of the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH).
In the late 1990s, Rev. Sullivan brought world and business leaders together to expand the successful Sullivan Principles into the Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility. In November 1999, at a special meeting at the United Nations Headquarters, Sullivan and then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan formally introduced these new principles to the corporate world. The aim of the Global Sullivan Principles was to improve human rights, social justice and economic fairness in every country, throughout the world. A man of courage, a servant of the people and above all a man of God, Leon H. Sullivan devoted his life to the well being of others. Reverend Sullivan passed away on April 24, 2001.
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 December 1999 he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from President Bill Clinton who recognized his humanitarian efforts around the world. Reverend Sullivan authored several books including: America is Theirs, Build Brother Build, Philosophy of a Giant, Alternatives to Despair and his last book in 1998, Moving Mountains. A 2001 documentary film “A Principled Man: Rev. Leon Sullivan" details the roots and accomplishments of the Reverend Sullivan. He will be dearly missed during this year’s Forum in Atlanta.
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