In a stirring awards ceremony before more than 2,000 guests, black corporate leaders, past and present, and a pro-diversity company were recognized for their tenacity in overcoming the racial divide to excel in the global marketplace and leadership within Fortune 500 companies nationwide. Their stories, told first hand and in a short film created by filmmaker Spike Lee’s company Spike DDB, were highlighted at the Executive Leadership Council’s (ELC) 15th Annual Recognition Dinner and 9th Annual Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium, held October 23 and 24, 2003 at the Washington Hilton and Towers Hotel in Washington, DC.

The Dinner raised $2.5 million to support the Executive Leadership Foundation, the programmatic arm of ELC, the nation’s premier organization of the most senior African-American corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies. Mae Jemison, the nation’s first African-American female astronaut, was Dinner emcee with entertainment provided by The Sherry Winston Band. PepsiCo, Inc. sponsored both the Dinner and the Symposium. And corporate management consultants Dr. Price Cobbs, CEO, Pacific Management Systems, and business professor Dr. Ella Bell, Dartmouth College, co-moderated the professional development Symposium held the next day.

From the spirited concert offered by the Quantico Marine Corps Band and the presentation of the colors by a combined military honor guard, to the final award’s ceremony, the evening was festive, patriotic and powerful as leaders in business, public policy, higher education and community service honored America’s best while also acknowledging a part of her inglorious past. Special tribute was paid to the corporate-higher education-military coalition that supported the University of Michigan’s Supreme Court Case on affirmative action, and U. of Michigan Dean of Admissions Ted Spencer was acknowledged along with corporate and military leaders in attendance.

Awardees featured were Harriet Michel, President, National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), winner of the Alvaro Martins Heritage Award; Mannie Jackson, Owner and Chairman, Harlem Globetrotters, winner of the Achievement Award; and Corporate Award winner Darden Restaurants, represented by CEO Joe R. Lee, who related how working alongside black field workers in rural Georgia and being mentored by Darden Restaurants founder Bill Darden helped prepare him for leadership and competition in the diverse global marketplace.

Mannie Jackson, one of 19 ELC founding members, a former Honeywell senior executive, and a former Harlem Globetrotter, thanked his family, the ELC leadership and ELC members for staying the course throughout the organization’s 17 year history to “help build a pipeline of the next generation of corporate executives through this leadership forum.”

“My life, whether on the basketball court or in the boardroom, has been a diligent battle,” said Mr. Jackson. “As executives, we are constantly encountering barriers and educating those that have grown up with the negative stereotypes often placed on African-Americans. Every ELC member in this room is a pioneer; you have helped open doors and erase the prejudice that lingers in the corporate world. For this I applaud you—keep the faith – don’t ever give up.”

Joe Lee, the first CEO of Darden Restaurants, a $4.5 billion company that is the undisputed global leader in the casual dining industry, related lessons learned as the protégé of restaurant founder Bill Darden.

“I’ll never forget those early days working with Bill Darden,” Mr. Lee told the audience. “He taught me, in words and in deeds, that teamwork, fair play, and customer service were the keys to success in business and in life. This was never more clear to me than when I witnessed an incident in the late 1960’s in a Red Lobster in a southern state. A party of white guests had entered and saw black guests in the dining room. They demanded that Bill ask the black customers to leave. Instead, Bill said to the white guests, ‘you can stay here and enjoy a great meal, or you can leave.’...That left a lasting impression on me. Bill never compromised on his values, and that’s a legacy that endures at Darden today.”

As President of NMSDC, Harriet Michel has helped minority businesses conduct more than $60 billion in business with Fortune 500 companies in a single year.

“I am passionately committed to building wealth in communities of color,” said Ms. Michel. “And one of the best ways to build wealth is through business ownership.”

The career stories of nearly a dozen executives were deftly captured in a SpikeDDB film produced by PepsiCo, “For One, For All …The History of African Americans in Corporate America.” The next day some of the pioneer and legacy panelists featured in the film addressed more than 700 black mid-level managers at the 9th Annual Mid-Level Managers’ Symposium.

Dorothy Orr, a former Equitable executive, and the first African-American woman to become a corporate officer in the insurance industry, gave insight into the struggles faced by relating an incident that occurred at a reception the Equitable held in her honor. A company physician approached Ms. Orr and her husband to remark “So you’re the new ornament at the Equitable.” Stunned at the time, retelling the story in the film Ms. Orr remarked, “Don’t feel bad for me. Two years later I had his job and his corner office.”

Moving upwards and onwards remained a consistent theme of both the Dinner and the Symposium. ELC member Ann Fudge, CEO of Young & Rubicam, provided a valuable key to leadership success and ELC’s progress in advice she imparted to young executives at the Symposium. “Know yourself and know what’s important to you” Ms. Fudge said.