MLK  2017 DAY

OF SERVICE & CELEBRATION

Come join us on January 16, 2017 as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King by building bridges and strengthening Lake County. Thank you to Lake County Branch NAACP, Lake Erie College and Painesville Furniture Carpet.  Mime Dancers by Minister Chris Anthony Lee of HumbleCry Ministries will be performing plus Harvey High School Gospel Choir, Kim Hildack, Director.

Greg Forté is a Consultant at Pathfinders|Management Performance International (MPI) Consulting where he enables organizations to drive strategic growth with improved work systems, more efficient operations, training and organization development.

Mr. Forté has over 35 years of professional experience in managing, leading and developing growth strategies for organizations. Prior to MPI, Greg worked as a Director for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. As Director, he worked closely with the Freedom Center’s Chairman and former CEO of Procter & Gamble, John E. Pepper who wrote this of Mr. Forté’s work at the Freedom Center “Above all, Greg, I came away admiring your professionalism and integrity”. The team Mr. Forté led delivered record revenue and endowment growth while significantly reducing operating costs for the Freedom Center.

Prior to the Freedom Center, Greg was a Senior Executive with the Procter & Gamble Company where he spent 32 years with increasing responsibilities. This included leading the Company’s Northeastern U.S. sales organization while being headquartered in Philadelphia. He eventually led the Operations group with responsibility for North America, Canada and Puerto Rico.

At P&G, Greg pioneered common practices we see in many companies today, including the creation of customer business teams, using data driven systems for decision making and targeted selling strategies that resulted in a competitive advantage for Procter & Gamble and its’ North American business during his tenure.

Greg’s past roles with P&G include Associate Director, Operations Leader for North America, Customer Business Team Director, Category National Sales Manager, Senior Sales Technology Manager, and District Sales Manager.

Greg was also a successful entrepreneur having owned three franchise operations in Michigan where he resided earlier in his corporate career. Mr. Forté is President of OE-DE Investment Group; an investment group of like minded men focused on investing, uplifting the community and enabling higher education for youth. Greg is a member of the Advisory Board of Student Affairs at Bowling Green State University. Greg is a life-time member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. Their members include the likes of Douglas Wilder, former Governor of Virginia and basketball legend, Michael Jordan.

Greg is a member of Crossroads Community Church of Cincinnati, Ohio where his family participates in massive outreach efforts like "Go Cincinnati" that includes 8,000 volunteers and provides a wealth of services to the local, national and international community. A priority for the Church is to significantly reduce childhood poverty in urban Cincinnati.  

Greg is a parent leader in the Sycamore High School Young Scholars program. He has tutored underprivileged youth and is a former youth athletics coach. Greg is married to Lovey Forté and has 3 children. His family resides in Montgomery, Ohio a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Greg attended Wittenberg University and Bowling Green State University where he received B.A. in Business Administration. At Wittenberg, Greg was a member of their Division III National Championship Football team his Sophomore year. Professionally, he has attended numerous training courses with certifications.

Greg grew up in Painesville, Ohio and is a graduate of Thomas W. Harvey High School where he was a student leader and athlete. Greg’s leadership roles at Harvey included student body vice-president and chief justice of the student court. He was an all-conference football player and a captain on the basketball team. 

Greg continues to give back to Painesville by supporting events like the Annual Freedom Fund Dinner that raises scholarships and provides services for local high school students

Auditor Clarence Mingo's life and career have been about service to his country and his community. A veteran of the US Army, Clarence answered the call of service and served honourably with the coalition forces that liberated Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Upon his return, Clarence attended The Ohio State University where he earned his undergradute and law degree in a little more than five years. He then re-focused his commitment to service to his community as an attorney in private practice, helping to protect those citizens most in need. Clareance serviced the Legal Aid Society of Columbus Neighborhood Service's project.

In 2007 Clarence was appointed as a commissioner in the Ohio Court of Claims. In 2009 he was appointed as Franklin County Auditor. In 2011, Governor John Kasich appointed Clarence to serve on Ohio's Lottery Commission. In 2014, Auditor Mingo was featured by MSNBC as a "Rising Leader" in the state of Ohio.

Terrell Dillard is currently the Master Franchise Owner of Jan-Pro Cleaning Systems of Greater Cleveland and President of ZayMat Distributors.  Jan-Pro is currently the “#1 fastest growing franchise in the world” and Terrell oversees 150 local unit owners and hundreds of business clients in the greater Cleveland, Akron and Toledo markets. ZayMat is a full-service industrial supply firm established in 2008 with several clients across the U.S., including, Denver Regional Transit, New York Bridge Authority and the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Prior to Jan-Pro and ZayMat, Terrell was GM and Partner at Bonnie Speed Logistics in Cleveland.  He began his professional career with Fifth Third Bank of Northeast Ohio and eventually became the bank’s youngest retail Assistant Vice President and the bank’s first small business lender in Cleveland.  Terrell also had a successful career as an account manager for Cleveland’s CBS affiliate, WOIO-Channel 19, where he left as Northeast Ohio’s #1 television sales executive. 

Terrell is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Lake Erie College and The Diversity Center of Greater Cleveland.  He has served on numerous civic and non-profit boards, including past President of Lake County’s transit authority, Laketran.  Terrell is also a Lifetime Member of the NAACP. Terrell graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1992, where he also played for the university’s basketball team. Terrell currently resides in Solon with his wife, Nancy, and two sons.

Michael T. Victor, J.D., LL.D.

President, Lake Erie College

President Michael Victor was born in Ridgeway, Pennslvania. He attended Ridgeway schools and St. Vincent College, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He continued his education at Duguesne University School of Law where he received a joint MBA and Juris Doctor. 

President Victor began his career as a corporate attorney with the firm of MacDonald, Illig, Jones & Britton.  After two years as a corporate attorney, he and his brother, Frank, purchased Pyramid Industries, a small manufacturing company specializing in plastic conduit systems.  They grew the company to become one of the largest manufacturers of fiber optic conduit systems in the nation with seven factories and three divisions throughout the country.  When President Victor was thirty-nine years old, he and his brother sold Pyramid Industries to a multi-national corporation and President Victor retired as Chief Executive Officer.

During his years as a corporate executive, President Victor found that his true passion was teaching, and he taught every semester as an adjunct professor of business at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.  After his retirement from the corporate world, President Victor became a full-time professor and executive in residence at Gannon University.  Halfway through his first year as a professor of business, the president of Mercyhurst College offered President Victor the position of Dean of the Walker School of Business.  Under his leadership, the School of Business became fully accredited, recognized as a regional leader in business education and became the largest school within Mercyhurst College.  In his fifth year as Dean, President Victor was offered the presidency of three different colleges and chose to become the eleventh president of Lake Erie College.

The Lake County Branch NAACP presented the 55th Freedom Fund Banquet on Saturday, September 14, 2013, held at DeRubertis Party Center. Proceeds from the banquet will provide scholarships for minority youth from Lake County schools.

Linda Forte, a former graduate of Harvey High School was the key note speaker. She is the senior vice president of business affairs for Comerica Incorporated. She is also responsible for the Comerica Charitable Foundation, Comerica Contributions and Civic Affairs.

Music was provided by the Harvey High School Jazz Band, led by Amir Jones.