"I may have been somewhat of a trailblazer in banking, but it is gratifying to know that I was not the last Black banking executive," Charles Stewart tells Arkansas Matters.
The 73-year-old is the co-founder of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1992 and has since honored more than 100 people with its annual Black Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Stewart, who was Arkansas' first black bank executive when he started Regions Financial in Little Rock in the 1970s, tells Arkansas Matters that he founded the hall with Patricia Goodwin, executive director of the Arkansas Minority Business Development Council, after attending an awards ceremony in Atlanta.
"Patricia had attended the Trumpet Awards in Atlanta and was interested in doing something like that in Arkansas," Stewart says.
"I told her that I had developed a concept that I thought would be a good way to recognize the achievements of African Americans with Arkansas ties."
The Hall of Fame, which awards grants to nonprofits in the state, moved to its own 501(c)(3) status in 2003 and Stewart says he hopes it will continue to grow. "It is my further hope that America will have grown to the realization that Black history is American history and that we will be a nation that values the contributions of all its people."
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.