State Conference of NAACP Branches to recognize 100 African American Connecticut leaders

 

 

In a release, the State Conference of NAACP Branches said it would will recognize 100 African American state leaders at its State Convention .

 The “100 Most Influential Blacks in CT Luncheon” will be held at noon on Saturday Dec. 21 at the Omni Hotel, 155 Temple Street, New Haven. Derrick Johnson, President of the Mississippi NAACP State Conference, will provide the keynote address, the release said.

 

“We are thrilled to honor African American men and women in Connecticut who are making a difference in our communities,” State President Scot X. Esdaile said, also in the release. “From education to entertainment, law enforcement to legislators, this represents some of the best and brightest who are leading the charge for change in the state.”

 The luncheon will be the main event of the State Convention, which begins on Dec. 20 with a free Urban Business Expo from 6 to 9 p.m. The expo will be followed by a holiday party co-hosted by Yale radio station WYBC.

 

The list of 100 leaders is below. For information on booth space availability at the expo or the luncheon, call 860-523-9962.

 

CT NAACP 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL BLACKS IN CONNECTICUT

 

1.      Yolanda Allen, Editor-in-Chief, Northend Agent’s

2.      Carole Andrews, Chief Administrative Officer, UConn Health Center

3.      June Archer, Author, Promoter, Youth Activist

4.      Dr. Felton O. Best, Director, African Americn Studies, CCSU

5.      Michael Bivins, Recording Artist, New Edition

6.      Rodrick L. Bremby, Commissioner, DSS

7.      Dr. Kalilah Brown-Dean Professor, Quinnipiac University

8.      DJ Buck, Program Director, Hot 93.7, WZMX

9.      Rep. Larry Butler, Waterbury

10.  Cassie, Recording Artist, Model, Actress

11.  Deborah A. Caviness, Sr.  Director of Small and Minority Business Development, Bridgeport

12.  Rep. Charles “Don” Clemons, Jr., State Representative, Bridgeport

13.  Dr. Stacey Close, Vice-President, Eastern Conn. State University

14.  Adam Cloud, Hartford City Treasurer

15.  Sanford Cloud Jr., Former Connecticut State Senator, Chairman and CEO, The Cloud Company

16.  Adrienne W. Cochrane, J.D., President & CEO, Greater Hartford Urban League

17.  Rodney Cohen, Assistant Dean, Yale University

18.  Sen. Eric D. Coleman, Hartford

19.  Andrea Comer, Member, State Board of Education

20.  Dr. James P. Comer, Founder, Comer School Development Program

21.  Rajai Davis, Major League Professional Baseball Player - Detroit Tigers

22.  Barbara DeBaptiste, National Director of 100 Black Women

23.  Malcolm Ellis, Executive at The Diageo Company

24.  Deborah A. Elam, President and Chief Diversity Officer, GE Foundation

25.  Metashar Bankhead Dillon, Author, Motivational Speaker and Entrepreneur

26.  Wesley Dillon, International Engineer, Job Development-Management for Pratt & Whitney

27.  Karen Dubois-Walton Ph.D., Executive Director, New Haven Housing Authority

28.  Gwen Edwards, News Reporter, Chanel 12 Fairfield County

29.  Dr. Jane McBride Gates – 1st African American Provost & V.P. of Academic Affairs at Western Connecticut State University

30.  James H. Gatling, Ph.D., President & CEO, New Opportunities, Inc.

31.  Keisha Grant, Co-Anchor, NBC CT News

32.  Floyd Green, Senior Vice President, Aetna

33.  Samuel C. Hamilton, Former International Grand Polemarch for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Executive Director, HEDCO

34.  Gail P. Hardy, State’s Attorney for Judicial District of Hartford

35.  Sen. Toni N. Harp, Mayor-Elect, New Haven

36.  George Hanna, PSD, Supreme Warden/Senior Vice President, Fraternal Service, Knights of Columbus

37.  Rep. Ernest Hewett, New London

38.  Howard K. Hill, Funeral Services New Haven & Hartford

39.  Cheryl A. Hickmon, National Secretary, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

40.  Ronnell Higgins, Yale University Police Chief

41.  Carlton L. Highsmith, Specialized Packaging, Hamden

42.  Rep. Gary A. Holder-Winfield, New Haven

43.  Theresa Hopkins-Staten, Director, State Regulatory Affairs Connecticut at Northeast Utilities Service Company

44.  Chandler J. Howard, President & CEO, Liberty Mutual Bank

45.  Tanya Hughes, Acting Executive Director, Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities

46.  Mayor Scott Jackson, Hamden

47.  Rev Tommie Jackson, Director of Urban Redevelopment and Mmember, Connecticut Ethics Board

48.  Kevin Johnson, CT State President of the Elks

49.  Jacqueline James, 1^st African American Chairwoman of the City of New Haven Democratic Town Committee

50.  Juanita James, President, Fairfield County Community Foundation

51.  Atty. Michael A. Jefferson, National Supreme Council of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

52.  Dr. Dorsey L. Kendrick, President, Gateway Community College

53.  Lisa Nkonoki - National Family Advocate

54.  Keith Kountz, News Anchor, WTNH News Channel 8

55.  Clara C. Lee, President, The Links, Connecticut

56.  Warde Manuel, Athletic Director, UCONN

57.  Deborah McAuley, Director for Diversity, Yale University

58.  Don McAuley, New England Regional Director, In-Roads

59.  Paul A. McCraven, Senior Vice President, First Niagara Bank 

60.  Rep. Douglas McCrory, Hartford

61.  Tyrone McClain, District Chief of Staff, Congressman Jim Himes

62.  Rep. Brandon Mcgee Jr., Hartford

63.  Rep. Patricia Billie Miller, Stamford

64.  Rep. Bruce Morris, Norwalk

65.  Dr. Jewel Mullen, Commissioner, CT Department of Public Health

66.  Denise Nappier, State Treasurer

67.  Kevin Ollie, Head Coach Men's Basketball, UCONN

68.  Dr. Steve Perry, Founder and Principal, Capital Prep Magnet School, Author

69.  Rev. Dr. Robert Perry, Pastor, Union Baptist Church

70.  Rodney O. Powell, President & COO, Yankee Gas

71.  Salome Raheim, Ph.D., Dean, UConn School of Social Work

72.  Patrick Ridenhour, Police Chief, Stratford

73.  Vernon Riddick, Police Chief, Waterbury  

74.  Doreen Richardson, Former Chairwoman, Windsor Board of Education

75.  Daryl K. Roberts, President, NOBLE CT  

76.  Charles Robinson, CT Grand Master, Prince Hall Masons

77.  Curtis Robinson, President & CEO, C& R Development Co.

78.  Judge Richard Robinson, CT Appellate Court – Recent Nominee for State Supreme Court

79.  Valarie Shultz-Wilson, President & CEO, Urban League of Southern CT

80.  Cheryl Sharp, Litigation Attorney, Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities

81.  Michael Sharpe, President & CEO Family Urban Schools of Excellence-Jumoke Academy Schools

82.  Rep. Charlie L. Stallworth, Bridgeport

83.  Joseph M. Suggs, Jr., Former State Treasurer, Former Mayor, Bloomfield

84.  John P. Thomas – President, Inner City Newspaper

85.  Dr. James Thompson, Jr., Superintendent, Bloomfield Public Schools

86.  Charles Tisdale, Executive Director, ABCD in Bridgeport

87.  Reggie Tolliver, Director Community Affairs, Turner Construction Company

88.  Pamela Trotman Reid, Ph.D., President, Saint Joseph College

89.  Marilyn Tucker, Connecticut Grand Worthy Matron, Eastern Stars

90.  Rep. Toni Edmonds Walker, New Haven 

91.  Fitz G. Walker Jr., President & CEO, Barton Medical Imaging

92.  Elease White, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Aetna

93.  Dr. Sharon J. White, Director, UConn Stamford Campus

94.  Dudley Williams, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Diversity, GE Asset Management

95.  Deborah Williams, Ph.D., Entrepreneur, NBA Apparel

96.  Isabel Windley, President, Daughter of the Elks, CT

97.  Shawn Wooden, Partner, Day Pitney, LLC, President, Hartford City Council

98.  Patrice Wrice, Executive Director, Operation Fuel, Inc.

99.  Joe Young, Author, Filmmaker, Community Activist

100. Teresa C. Younger, Executive Director, Permanent Commission on Women