NEW YORK, NY (May 5, 2014) – The Minority Business Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. in collaboration with the University of Washington Foster School of Business will recognize minority business pioneers at an awards dinner on May 13, 2014, at the Westin Seattle.
“The MBHF&M is excited to have the opportunity to bring its 10th Anniversary Ceremony to Seattle as the first induction since our recent collaboration with the University of Washington Foster School of Business,” said John F. Robinson, co-founder and president of the MBHF&M. “This affiliation represents the best of honorees who have been pioneers and trailblazers in the field of minority business development over the past several decades.”
The MBHF&M will oversee five inductions: The Founders of Liberty Bank, Seattle; Charles T. Haffey; Firoz Lalji; Don McKneely and Margaret Z. Richardson-Wiley.
J. Frederick Canady, chairman of MBHF&M, will host the awards program, which is sponsored by PepsiCo, IBM, Northrop Grumman, Toyota and Union Bank.
About the Inductees:
Charles T. Haffey, who died in 2012, demonstrated steadfast commitment to social equality and equalizing the economic playing field throughout his life. As vice president of corporate purchasing at Pfizer Inc., he advocated for diversity in the company’s supply base. Following Haffey’s retirement from Pfizer, he became an instrumental figure for the National Minority Business Council, relentlessly promoting the growth of the organization and building corporate partnerships.
The Founders of Liberty Bank were 10 multi-ethnic civic, professional and business leaders in Seattle who witnessed African Americans’ isolation from the economic prosperity of Seattle’s metropolitan core. In 1967, after years of appeals for financial investments, numerous bank charter rejections, and strife in obtaining land to construct the envisioned bank, the group’s bank charter, was finally approved by the Supervisor of Banking and Comptroller of Currency.
Firoz Lalji is the co-founder and chairman of Zones Inc. and founder and chairman of Fana Capital Corp. After being ousted from his native Uganda, Lalji immigrated to Canada, then Washington and founded Zones, a nationwide provider of progressive technology solutions to business and public sectors and the fifth largest private company headquartered in Washington. In 1989, he founded the real estate investment company Fana Capital Corporation.
Don McKneely is the founder, chairman and CEO of MBN USA and Business News Group as well as the co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Billion Dollar Roundtable. McKneely launched the magazine MBN USA in 1988. His belief in the power of leveraging astute partnerships to infuse diversity in suppliers for small, medium and large-scale businesses alike led him to co-found the non-profit Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR).
Margaret Z. Richardson-Wiley is a former executive director of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, notably the first woman to hold that position. During her tenure she decentralized the management of the NMSDC’s network by establishing regional vice presidents; launched a nation-wide program to certify minority-owned firms; and initiated incubator-training programs for minority business owners to help them submit stronger bids and manage larger orders among large-scale suppliers.
The awards program will be preceded by the unveiling of an exhibit on the University of Washington campus that will honor individuals who have been inducted into the MBHF&M.
