Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is an entrepreneur, global business leader, educator, chemist, civil rights leader, NAACP Life Member, syndicated columnist, theologian, and author is currently the President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA): The Black Press of America. Dr. Chavis serves on the Board of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).
Dr. Chavis is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Dr. Chavis began his career in 1963, as a statewide youth coordinator in NC for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). A native of Oxford, North Carolina, Dr. Chavis received the Bachelor of Arts, BA, in Chemistry from University of North Carolina.
Chavis also earned his Masters of Divinity, M.Div. from Duke University while serving an unjust 34-year prison sentence as a member of the Wilmington 10, who Amnesty International declared political prisoners, a case that garnered international attention and was pardoned 40 years later. He also received the Doctor of Ministry, from Howard University and Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D., in systematic theology, from Union Theological Seminary in New York.
From 1993 and 1994, Dr. Chavis served as the Executive Director and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and remains an active supporter of the NAACP. In 1995, Dr. Chavis was the National Director and organizer of the Million Man March. His areas of expertise include corporate diversity and inclusion, human rights, climate change, voting rights, bridging the gap between civil rights and hip-hop, and criminal justice reform.
Pat McCrory is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009. McCrory also served on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2002 to 2006 under President George W. Bush.
As governor of North Carolina, McCrory led efforts to reform the state’s tax code and invest in its transportation infrastructure, while also paying off state debt, raising teacher pay and overseeing a bond referendum to support universities, parks, and the National Guard.
As mayor and governor, McCrory worked closely with Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, while serving on the executive boards of the national Mayors’ and Governors’ associations. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, he served for President Bush as a member of the Homeland Security Commission. McCrory also has extensive private sector experience, having worked for Duke Energy Company and Moore & Van Allen, and having served on corporate boards including Lending Tree, Kewaunee Scientific, and Transportation Impact.
As the former host of a successful radio show, McCrory is a sought-after commentator and he frequently appears on national media broadcasts, including National Public Radio, Meet the Press, ABC World News, PBS News Hour, CBS This Morning, MSNBC News, CNN, CNBC and Fox News, among others.
He and his wife, Ann, reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, with their beloved chocolate Labrador retriever rescue named Maddie.