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Sheila Johnson |
Randolph-Macon College honored the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 17, 2011. Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sheila Johnson was the keynote speaker.
Click on MLK Celebration to view a slideshow of photos from the event.
Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, LLC, a company she founded in 2005. She oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties including Woodlands Inn, in Summerville, South Carolina; Innisbrook, a 72-hole golf and spa resort in Innisbrook, Florida; and the much-anticipated Salamander Resort & Spa, currently being constructed in Middleburg, Virginia.
As president and managing partner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Johnson is the first African-American woman to have a stake in three professional sports teams, including the Washington Wizards (NBA) and the Washington Capitals (NHL). She is also a TV pioneer, having been a founding partner of BET (Black Entertainment Television) and the creator of the award-winning program "Teen Summit." Currently, Johnson is producing films with a humanitarian message including "Kicking It, A Powerful Noise," "She Is the Matador," and her latest film, "The Other City," about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Washington D.C.
In 2006 Johnson was named global ambassador for CARE, a leading aid organization fighting global poverty by empowering women. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as chair of the board of governors of Parsons The New School for Design in New York. A fervent supporter of the arts and education, President Obama appointed her to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities; she also sits on the boards of Americans for the Arts, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Tiger Woods Foundation, the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, Howard University and the University of Illinois Foundation.
An accomplished violinist, Johnson earned a B.A. in music from the University of Illinois, as well as honorary degrees from numerous other institutions. She lives in Middleburg, Virginia, is married to the Honorable William T. Newman Jr., and has two children.
The tribute to Dr. King also included a musical presentation by the Ujima Gospel choir.