Dr. Michael Lomax
President and CEO, UNCF (United Negro College Fund)
One of the ethics of the Black community is to lift as you climb. It's to be ambitious, but it's always to reach back and bring others along with you.
Summary
This week on “Leadership Matters,” Alan was joined by an activist, educator, and nonprofit leader at the head of the nation’s largest and most successful minority education organization. Dr. Michael Lomax is the president and CEO of UNCF (United Negro College Fund), an essential organization on a mission to increase the total annual number of African American college graduates. As president and CEO, Dr. Lomax oversees the organization’s 400 scholarship programs, which award 10,000 scholarships a year. Dr. Lomax has served in this position since 2004, and has led the organization in raising over three billion dollars and in helping more than 110,000 students earn college degrees and launch their careers.
During their wide-reaching conversation, Dr. Lomax takes Alan on a journey through his early life, education, and career. From Dr. Lomax’s upbringing in Los Angeles and education at Moorhouse, to his experiences in Atlanta politics and groundbreaking work at UNCF, Alan takes a deep dive into the fascinating path Dr. Lomax’s life and career has taken. Together, they explore many of the important initiatives Dr. Lomax has led, as well as the lessons in leadership he’s learned along the way.
Mentions & Resources in this Episode
Guest Bio
Since 2004, Dr. Michael L. Lomax has served as president and CEO of UNCF, the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to African American students and a leading advocate of college readiness: students’ need for an education, from pre-school through high school, that prepares them for college success. Under his leadership, UNCF has raised more than $3 billion and helped more than 110,000 students earn college degrees and launch careers. Annually, UNCF’s work enables 60,000 students to go to college with UNCF scholarships and attend its 37 member historically black college and universities (HBCUs).
At UNCF’s helm, Dr. Lomax oversees the organization’s 400 scholarship programs, which award 10,000 scholarships a year. He also launched the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building, which helps UNCF’s member HBCUs become stronger, more effective and more self-sustaining.
Under Dr. Lomax’s leadership, UNCF has fought for college readiness and education reform through partnerships with reform-focused leaders and organizations and worked to further advance HBCUs with Congress, the administration and the Department of Education. He serves on the boards of the KIPP Foundation, America’s Promise, Teach for America and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Before joining UNCF, Dr. Lomax was president of Dillard University in New Orleans and a literature professor at UNCF-member institutions Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. He also founded the National Black Arts Festival, was a founding member of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and served as chairman of the Fulton County Commission in Atlanta, the first African American elected to that post.