and communities that make up our constituency. The economic challenge is also found in the increasingly intense competition for scarce resources that all major not-for-profits — human services and civil rights organizations — are having to face.”
The New Regime
While naming every potential future leader in the African American community would require an entire book, political analysts say the following individuals are worth taking notice of, and may conceivably end up leading a major black empowerment organization.
John Bryant, 37: Los Angeles-based founder and CEO of Operation HOPE Inc., a nonprofit investment banking organization that has received over $33 million in bank and corporate financing for home loans and community redevelopment projects. Because of Bryant, President Bush visited a Los Angeles church in 2002 for the 10th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots.
Melanie L. Campbell, 40: Executive director and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP). She is a resident fellow of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the youngest board member of the Black Leadership Forum, a confederation of black civil rights and service organization leaders.
The Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, 32: Founder and pastor of the Empowerment Temple, a Baltimore AME church. A radio talk show host, Bryant previously was the director of the Youth and College Division of the NAACP.
Pearl Junior, 39: Started the National Black Anti-Defama
tion Association. She’s become a prominent Los Angeles community activist and fund-raiser, and has shown a knack for interacting with other organizations.
Joe Leonard, 35: Bureau chief and director of the Public Policy Institute of the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition in Washington, D.C. He is completing his Ph.D. at Howard University.
Martin Ludlow, 37: A 2003 Los Angeles city council candidate, he was chief of staff for the former speaker of the California state assembly and has good connections with labor organizations and community-based nonprofits.
Spencer A. Overton, 34: A professor of law at George Washington University Law School who previously taught at the University of California. He studies property, campaign finance, voting rights, and race.
Kelly Owens, 37: Director of education and outreach at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She developed the Emerging Leaders Series, a monthly panel discussion about public policy.
René A. Redwood, 47: A leading workplace and educational diversity advocate. She’s an expert on “glass ceiling” issues and serves on the independent Coca-Cola Oversight Task Force.