About Us
Leadership Alabama Commission on Race and Equity (LACRE)
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
~ James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro
Charge
The Leadership Alabama Commission on Race and Equity is charged with taking a comprehensive look at race and equity in our state, with an emphasis on solutions and action. The commission’s goal is that its work serves as a catalyst for Leadership Alabama members and the public to band together and utilize the commission’s findings to establish programs and seek policy outcomes that make Alabama a more just and equitable place for all its citizens.
Leadership Alabama was founded more than thirty years ago, in part to address matters of race and equity in our state. While we have undoubtedly made progress since 1989, by virtually every measure of quality of life, Black Alabamians do not enjoy parity with their white counterparts. This is due in large measure to systemic racism that persists to this day. Leadership Alabama recognizes that if we are to make significant and sustainable progress toward a more just and equitable Alabama where, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, its citizens are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin, we must do more than talk. We must act. Our state will never realize its true potential until we fully address racism and the resultant inequities.
Leadership Alabama is committed to be a force for change on these vital issues. The Leadership Alabama Commission on Race and Equity is charged with taking a comprehensive look at race and equity in our state, with an emphasis on solutions and action. With the assistance of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA), the commission will explore, identify, and summarize the data related to racial inequality, and inequality in general in Alabama. The commission will hear from subject matter experts on a range of topics, including education, health, housing, transportation, poverty and income inequality, employment and economic opportunities, government, racism/prejudice, history, the environment, the legal and criminal justice systems, and police reform.
The commission will conduct listening sessions around the state on these topics and others, learning from experts and spotlighting successful programs that have driven positive change. The sessions will also provide opportunities for public comment on the topics of focus, as well as the broader issues of race and equity. Utilizing the information it has gathered, and with guidance from experts, the commission will formulate a list of policy options that will enable thoughtful decision-making that can lead to substantive changes that address the root causes of racism and inequality in our state. The commission’s goal is that its work serves as a catalyst for Leadership Alabama members and the public to band together and utilize the commission’s findings to establish programs and seek policy outcomes that make Alabama a more just and equitable place for all its citizens.
Co-chairs

Tyrone Fenderson, Jr.
LA, LACRE Class XXII Market President | Mobile and Baldwin County Synovus Bank Mobile
Gordon G. Martin
LA, LACRE Class XVII Director, Kennemer Center for Innovation The University of Alabama Birmingham
Laurie J. Weil
LA, LACRE Class III Civic Leader MontgomeryFacilitators

Elizabeth Huntley
LA, LACRE Class XXIII Attorney Lightfoot, Franklin & White Birmingham
John Saxon
LA Class XXX President/Managing Partner John D. Saxon, PC BirminghamLACRE Members

Frank E. Adams, Jr.
LA, LACRE Class XXIX Deputy Director Negro Southern League Museum Birmingham
John Anzalone
LA, LACRE Class XXI Partner ALG Research Montgomery
Jannah Morgan Bailey
LA, LACRE Class XXVII President & CEO River Region United Way Montgomery
Miranda Bouldin
LA, LACRE Class XXX President/CEO & Founder LogiCore Corporation Huntsville
Kyle Buchanan
LA, LACRE Class XXV President Helen Keller & Red Bay Hospitals Muscle Shoals
Chad Emerson
LA, LACRE Class XX Managing Director Huntsville NEXT Pro Soccer Huntsville
Tyrone Fenderson, Jr.
LA, LACRE Class XXII Market President | Mobile and Baldwin County Synovus Bank Mobile
Precious Freeman
ALI, LACRE Class I Director of National Engagement Measures for Justice Dothan
Ryan Hankins
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII Executive Director PARCA Birmingham
Elizabeth Huntley
LA, LACRE Class XXIII Attorney Lightfoot, Franklin & White Birmingham
Eric Jack
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII Civic & Community Leader Birmingham
Joette Kelley-Brown
LA, LACRE Class XXIX President Ridgeview and Ridgewood Health Services Jasper
Natalie Kelly
ALI, LACRE Class I Corporate Responsibility Manager Brasfield & Gorrie Birmingham
Deborah J. Long
LA, LACRE Class XVIII Civic Leader Birmingham
JesHenry Malone
LA, LACRE Class XXX Civic Leader Huntsville
Gordon G. Martin
LA, LACRE Class XVII Director, Kennemer Center for Innovation The University of Alabama Birmingham
Tammy Montgomery
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII District Court Judge Sumter County Coatopa
John D. Moorehouse
LA, LACRE Class XXII President Team Health/Baptist Health Montgomery
Karen Musgrove
LA, LACRE Class XXIX Executive Director Birmingham AIDS Outreach Birmingham
David Nast
LA, LACRE Class XX State President United Community Huntsville
Arthur Price
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII Pastor Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Birmingham
Kathy Sawyer
LA, LACRE Civic Leader Independent Consultant Montgomery
James R. Seale
LA, LACRE Class VI Shareholder Hill, Hill, Carter, Franco, Cole & Black, PC Montgomery
Robert Simon
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII Founder & President Corporate Realty Birmingham
Donna D. Smith
LA, LACRE Class XXVIII Founder Alabama Leadership Project Birmingham