30 leaders of the future

Ebony, Nov, 1996 by Lynn Norment

From Capitol Hill to the Los Angeles film industry to the business communities in New York, Atlanta and Montgomery, a talented cadre of bright and enterprising young African-Americans is marching to the forefront of their respective professions. They are smart, creative and entrepreneurial, and they win not let the r youth deter them from achieving and giving back to their communities.

Ebony asked established political and civic leaders on the national and local levels to recommend young people age 30 and younger who have established themselves as leaders in their communities, or who have the potential to be great leaders in the future. Some of our featured young leaders are already elected to public office, such as Wisconsin State Representative Leon Young and Durham City Council Member Tyrone Y. Cox. Others are making their mark in their chosen professions, which range from education, the film industry, book publishing and the law. Others are successful entrepreneurs. There are a number of individuals whose creativity is already pushing them to the forefront. Some are already well-known nationally, including CNN political analysts Farai Chideya, author Veronica Chambers and record producer Sean (Puffy) Combs.

In addition to excelling in their professions, our young leaders also take time to give back to their communities. They sit on the boards of various organizations, are active in their churches, and they are mentors and tutors to students and other young professionals.

On the following pages are 30 young people who are representative of the talent embodied in the generation that will lead Black America into the new millennium.

Fairron Newton (above), 26, founder, president and CEO, Option Plus Financial Services, a sports and entertainment financial consulting firm, Atlanta, Ga.; member, Atlanta Sports Council, Black Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Association and Martin Luther King Jr. North Carolina Scholarship Committee; volunteer, Egleston Children's Hospital; and team sponsor, youth sports program of the Riverside Athletic Association.

Farai Chideya (below), 26, political analyst, Cable Network News, New York City; appears regularly on CNN's Inside Politics@ author, Don't Believe The Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African-Americans (1995); former reporter for MTV News, where she helped to launch MTV's 1996 Choose or Lose Voter Awareness Project; and 1990 Harvard University magna cum laude graduate.

Gary Sheffield, 28, Florida Marlins All Star outfielder, Miami@ founder, The Gary Sheffield Foundation, which supplies financial and personal assistance to various charitable organizations, schools and youth programs-founder (1995), Sheff's Kitchen, which provides 50 tickets to all Marlins home games to organizations that work with youth (participating youth are served hot lunches and given autographed photographs before the games).

Carole E. Solomon (right), 30, director of development, Miramax Films, Los Angeles, where she is responsible for acquisition and development of viable feature film projects for three divisions, founding member, Stanford-Soviet Exchange Program, volunteer, Friends of Friends/United Friends of the Children; and vice president, Stanford Black Alumni Association of Southern California.

Walter B. Hill Jr. (left), 30, deputy vice president, credit administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Washington, D.C., where he supervises a staff of 14; first Export-Import Bank officer to head an office in China, where in 1996 he excelled during a six-month assignment during which he served as liaison between the Chinese government and the U.S. business community, president, Alumni Board of Governors, Gonzaga College High School; in 1989 he founded the Keith-Sean Lindsey Memorial Mentors Program at Gonzaga; member of the Male Usher Board and former member of Trustee Board, Rock Creek Baptist Church.

Veronica Chambers, 26, Brooklyn, N.Y., author of the acclaimed memoir, Mamas Girl, published by Riverhead Books in June 1996; nominated for "New Vision Award, by Quality Paperback Club, contributing editor, Glamour magazine, where she founded the "Bridges" column, former editor at the New York Times Magazine and Premiere; co-author with John Singleton of the movie Poetic Justice; and former Freedom Forum Fellow at Columbia University.

Andrea L. Adams (left), 27, financial systems supervisor, national headquarters-accounting department, McDonald's Corporation, Oak Brook, Ill.; volunteer, C.Y.C.L.E. tutoring program for underprivileged children, communications chairperson, Black Employee Network at McDonald's; owns and operates a customized printing business.

Wesley T. Bishop (right), 28, staff attorney add business advisor, Small Business Center, Southern University at New Orleans; CEO, Bishop, B. Ray ok Associates educational consulting firm; board member, Governors Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity; vice chair, Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee, youngest commissioner, New Orleans Business add Industrial District; motivational speaker.