DR. WILLIAM SONNY WALKER BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT 2008 William Sonny Walker is Founder and Principal of The Sonny Walker Group, a management consulting/networking firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Arkansas, he has held leadership positions at local, state, regional and national levels, working on matters pertaining to strategic planning, early learning, education reform, political campaign management, economic and human resources development, worker productivity, partnership development, networking and fund-raising. Prior to forming The Sonny Walker Group, he served as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. He also served as an Assistant to Mrs. Coretta Scott King for speech preparation and development. Before assuming the position at The King Center, Dr. Walker was Vice President of the National Alliance of Business (NAB) for 13 years, where he was responsible for its programs and activities in eight southeastern states. The NAB was a business sectorled partnership dedicated to establishing an internationally competitive American workforce. Sonny began his professional career as an educator in the Arkansas public schools as a teacher, athletic coach and administrator. He also served as President of both the Little Rock and Arkansas Associations of Teachers. Following his directorship of the Economic Opportunity Agency of Little Rock and Pulaski County (a community action agency), he served in Governor Winthrop Rockefeller s cabinet as head of the Arkansas State Economic Opportunity Office. After a stint as a Division Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Walker was appointed Director of the Southeast Region for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity and its successor agency, the U.S. Community Services Administration. He served as Director for ten years under four U.S. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan. In 1965-66, Sonny was responsible for organizing and providing leadership for one of the first Head Start programs in the nation, The Crusade for Opportunity in Syracuse, New York. He also led a team that developed the most recent comprehensive strategic plan for the National Head Start Association. He currently serves as a National consultant for Leap Frog School House with special emphasis on Head Start/Early Childhood Development and is a lecturer for the National Alliance for Black School Educators with emphasis on black male challenges. A graduate of his hometown institution, AM&N/the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, he did further study at Arizona State University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Arkansas, and The Federal Executive Institute.
Dr. William Sonny Walker 2 Sonny is very active in community and civic affairs and is a widely sought trainer, facilitator, public speaker and lecturer. His affiliations include: Atlanta Community Design Center (Member, Board of Directors) Atlanta Educational Telecommunications Collaborative (Board of Directors; Executive Committee / Chair, Nominating and Board Development Committee) Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Atlanta (Board of Directors Emeritus) Friendship Baptist Church (Member) Georgia Partnership for Education Excellence (Board of Directors) Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (Life Member) Leadership Atlanta Alumni NAACP (Life Member and Thousandaire Club) 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc. (Past President; President s Council) 100 Black Men of America, Inc. (Member) UAPB Annual Fund National Campaign (Chairman Emeritus) UAPB National Alumni Association (Past Chairman and President) UAPB Metro Atlanta Alumni Chapter (Parliamentarian, Board of Directors and Executive Committee) University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Foundation (Vice Chair, Board of Directors and Executive Committee) Atlanta Black Agenda (Executive Committee) Atlanta School Board/Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee EduPac (Chair and Board of Directors) Margarethia, Inc. (Treasurer) Atlanta Victim Witness Assistance Program (Immediate Past Board Chairman) Butler Street YMCA (Immediate Past Chair, Board of Directors) National Heritage Task Force for YMCA / U.S.A. (Member) Y-USA National Assembly (Member) Y-USA Southeast Association Assembly Steering Committee (Chair) Morris Brown College (Board of Trustees/Executive Committee and Chair of Strategic Planning)
Dr. William Sonny Walker 3 Honors and Awards (Partial Listing) Community Service Award, Atlanta Business League Distinguished Community Service Award, National Urban League Inspiring Self-Sufficiency Award, Southeast Association of Community Action Agencies Kappa Alpha Psi Southeastern and Southwestern Province Achievement Awards Lyndon B. Johnson Award, National Association of Community Action Agencies Lifetime Achievement Award/National Head Start Association Outstanding Performance Award, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Outstanding Public Servant in the State of Georgia (Designated by Georgia Senate and House of Representatives) Outstanding Service Award, Atlanta Department of Public Safety President s Award, National Alliance of Business President s Award, National Conference of Black Mayors President s Award, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Roy Wilkins Award, NAACP Lifetime Service Award and Keepers of the Spirit Hall of Fame Inductee, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 13 th Annual Chancellor s Benefit for the Arts Chairperson s Award Martin Luther King Center Dr. Walker is listed in the following publications: Outstanding Personalities in the South, 1974 2008 Who s Who in Black America, 1976 2008 Who s Who Among African Americans, 1997 2008 Dr. Walker s Honorary Degrees include: Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Allen University Honorary Doctorate of Humanities, B.L. Lee Theological Seminary Honorary Doctorate of Law, Morris Booker Memorial Baptist College Honorary Doctorate of Law, Shorter College Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Dr. William Sonny Walker 4 Past Affiliations African-American Panoramic Experience (Board Chair) American Personnel and Guidance Association (Member) Arkansas AM&N Alumni Association (Pulaski County Chapter President) Arkansas Council on Community Affairs (Member) Arkansas Community Action Program Directors Association, Inc. Arkansas Department of Classroom Teachers (President) Arkansas Teachers Association (Board of Directors) Arkansas Teachers of English (President) Atlanta Area Boy Scouts Council, Sustaining Membership Enrollment (Chair) and Board Member for Southern Region Atlanta Community Food Bank (Board of Directors) Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (Board of Directors) The Atlanta Project, founded and chaired by Former President Jimmy Carter (Executive Committee) Atlanta Public Broadcasting Association (Chair) Atlanta Vehicles for Hire Appeals Board (Chair) Bennett College (Chair, Board of Trustees) Business and Professional Men s Club (Secretary) Carver Community Foundation (Board of Directors) Center for Excellence in Government (Principal) Central Arkansas CAMPS Committee (Vice Chair) Atlanta Combined Federal Campaign (Vice Chair; Chair) Atlanta Federal Executive Board (Policy Committee) Southeast Federal Regional Council (Chair) Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, Corporate Roundtable (Vice President) Georgia Association of United Way Agencies (Vice Chair) Georgia 21 Commission on Building a Quality Georgia Workforce (Harris) Governor s Commission on Educational Excellence for Georgia (Harris) Governor s Commission on Private Initiatives for Georgia (Miller) Governor s Task Force on Literacy for Georgia (Miller) Governor s Commission on Education Reform (Barnes) Imperials Social Club Little Rock (President) Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; Little Rock Alumni Chapter (Polemarch) National Social Action Commission (Chair) and Member, Grand Chapter Nominating Committee The King Center (Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer; Board of Directors; Executive Committee; Chair, Audit Committee) The King Center s Community Empowerment Initiative (Chair, Advisory Board)
Dr. William Sonny Walker 5 Past Affiliations, continued Leadership Roundtable Association (President) Little Rock Literacy Action of Atlanta (Board of Directors) Atlanta Private Industry Council (Board of Directors) Atlanta NAACP Membership Campaign (Chair) SCLC Member (Board of Directors) Atlanta Mayor s Committee on Empowerment (Chair) Metro Atlanta Council for Battered Woman (Board of Directors) Metro Atlanta Crime Commission (Board of Trustees Vice Chair) Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Board of Directors; Chair, Operations Committee) NACOP Task Force Committee on Grass Roots Participation (Chair) National Conference of Black Mayors/Economic Development Task Force (Chair) National Conference of Christians and Jews (Co-Chair, Arkansas Region) National Council of Teachers of English (Board of Directors) National Education Association (Member; Classroom Teachers Advisory Council) National State Office of Economic Opportunity Directors Association (Vice President) NEA Professional Rights and Responsibilities Commission (Chair) Office of Economic Opportunity (National Advisory Committee on Planning; Executive Committee) Outreach Atlanta/AIDS Assistance (Board of Directors; Chair, Audit and Development Committees) 100 Black Men of America, Inc. (Board of Directors) 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc. (Vice Chair, Public Policy) Regional Advisory Committee for Adult Education (Appointed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller while residing in Syracuse, New York) Resurgens Atlanta (President) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Board of Directors; Chair, Resolutions Committee) State Advisory Board for Vocational/Technical Education (Arkansas) State FEMA Allocation Committee for Georgia (Chair) Metro Atlanta United Way (Board of Directors; Vice Chair) U.S. Government Senior Executive Service (Charter Member) The Black/Jewish Coalition (Executive Committee) U.S. President s Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Executive Committee)
Strategic Planning Training Concepts utilized by Dr. William Sonny Walker 6 For more than 30 years, Walker has been a student of Peter Drucker and trained various private sector groups and organizations in the SWOT concept (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). In recent years, he has transitioned into a focus on public and non-profit organizations as advocated by John Bryson and is now an advocate for and utilizes a focus on SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges). Bryson believes that strategic planning can help leaders and managers of public and non-profit organizations think, learn and act strategically. Walker, in keeping with Olsen and Eadie defines strategic planning as a disciplined effort to practice fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is, what it does, and why it does it. At its best, strategic planning requires broad scale yet effective information gathering, clarification of the mission to be pursued and issues to be addressed along the way, development and exploration of strategic alternatives, and an emphasis on the future implications of present decisions. Strategic planning can facilitate communication and participation, accommodate divergent interests and values, foster wise and reasonably analytical decision making, and promote successful implementation and accountability. In short, at its best, strategic planning can prompt in organizations the kind of imagination and commitment that psychotherapist and theologian Thomas Moore thinks is necessary to deal with individuals life conundrums.
William Sonny Walker s Personal Highlights Native of Pine Bluff Arkansas Father of 2 Daughters / 2 Sons Cheryl - Restaurant Consultant Jimmy - 2 Time All-American Defensive Tackle; 8 years Professional Football; Currently County Unit Supervisor/South Bend, Indiana William, Jr. - Former County Commissioner; 16 years Arkansas Legislature; Former State Senator, Arkansas and Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and currently Director of Workforce Education for Arkansas Lesli - Mother of 3 Children and Grandmother of 3 Grandfather of 8 and Great Grandfather of 6 Personal Efforts to Achieve Diversity and Equal Opportunity (1956-57) Helped to prepare members of the Little Rock 9 for transfer to Little Rock Central High School (1963) Managed the first successful campaign for a Black school board member in Little Rock (T.E. Patterson) (1966) Integrated the Little Rock Jaycees (1967) Led the successful effort in Little Rock to get Blacks hired as onair television personalities, supermarket cashiers, bank tellers, new car salesmen and in 1968, state police (1969) First Black to be appointed to Governor s Cabinet in South (Arkansas) (1972) First Black to be appointed Regional Director of a major Federal agency / other than civil rights (1977) First Black to chair the Southeast Federal Regional Council a council of Federal Regional administrators and directors
Dr. William Sonny Walker Kappa Alpha Psi Activities Initiated at Gamma Sigma Chapter (University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff / AM&N College, 1952 Became a Life Member in 1973. Served as Keeper of Records for Undergraduate Chapter (Gamma Sigma) and twice as Polemarch of the Little Rock Alumni Chapter. Has served on The Grand Chapter Nominating and Social Action Committees. Was Closing Banquet Speaker for the 63 rd Grand Conclave in Atlanta (1980). Recipient of more than 50 Kappa awards and citations, including the highest awards conferred by both the Southwest and Southeast (Joseph A. Jenkins Award) Provinces. Has made more than 100 speeches at Kappa events and has written numerous articles on achievement, brotherhood and other fraternityrelated matters.