Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner Gala

The Bishop Walker Gala pays tribute to the memory of Bishop John T. Walker, who served as Africare’s Board Chairman and as the first African American Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C.  Throughout the years we have honored the following individuals and organizations listed on this page for their devoted service to Africa and Africare over the years.

2015 Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner Gala

Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award to United States Department of State Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield for her legacy of selfless and compassionate service to the people of Africa.

Corporate Award to ExxonMobil for its notable contributions to several Africare programs in 2015 including Power Forward, a partnership with the National Basketball Association to teach health and life skills to Nigerian youth.

Life Member Award to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., for its long-term partnership which has provided more than $1 million in support of Africare programs.

Program Implementation Award for the ZaMs project to which a unique coalition of foundations collaborated with Africare to create a network of Maternal Waiting Homes in multiple Zambia districts and provinces to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

Young Philanthropist Award to Nathaniel Crossley, a Canadian teenager, who has single-handedly raised funds to support Africare’s and the African Well Fund’s initiative to build wells in Tanzania to provide clean water to several villages and schools.

Past Photo Galleries

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Past Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Award Recipients

2014 – Africare Co-Founders C. Payne Lucas and Dr. Joseph C. Kennedy (Africare Lifetime Achievement Awards)
2013 – Dr. Mo Ibrahim (Bishop John T. Walker Leadership Award)
2011 – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Former President of Brazil (Bishop John T. Walker Leadership Award)

Past Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award Recipients		Past National Chairs
2013 President Barack Obama 2011 Ambassador Donald McHenry 2010 Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 2009 John Legend 2008 Former President George W. Bush 2007 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 2006 Former President William J. Clinton 2005 The Honorable Colin L. Powell 2004 Sen. Richard G. Lugar and Rep. Donald M. Payne 2003 Bill and Melinda Gates 2002 Harry Belafonte 2001 The Honorable Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. 2000 James D. Wolfensohn 1999 Graca Machel 1998 The Honorable Andrew Young 1997 Dorothy I. Height 1996 Former President Jimmy Carter 1995 The Reverend Leon H. Sullivan 1994 President Nelson R. Mandela 1993 The Honorable Sargent Shriver 1992 Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu		2010 The Exxon Mobil Corporation 2009 The Coca-Cola Company 2008 The Coca-Cola Company 2007 RLJ Companies 2006 United Parcel Service 2005 Royal Dutch Shell 2004 ChevronTexaco Corporation 2003 The Hon. Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. 2002 Archer Daniels Midland Company 2001 Harmon & Co. 2000 Eastman Kodak Company 1999 SBC Communications, Inc. 1998 Chevron Corporation 1997 Discovery Communications, Inc. 1996 SmithKline Beecham 1995 Cookson Gro 1994 AT&T 1993 Cookson Group 1992 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association 1991 IBM Corporation 1990 The Coca-Cola Company

Past Speakers and Attending Leaders

Past Speakers		Past Attending Leaders
Roger Agnelli, Former CEO, Vale Bono Former First Lady Laura Bush Former President George H.W. Bush Then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Dr. Johnnetta Cole Ann Curry Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Former President of Brazil Former Rep. Ronald V. Dellums Former Mayor David N. Dinkins (New York City) Daniel Kablan Duncan, Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire Jendayi E. Frazer Former Senate Majority Leader Senator William H. Frist Bill Gates, Sr. Then Rep. William H. Gray, III Angelique Kidjo Then Vice President Al Gore, Jr. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson Then Senator Nancy Kassebaum Rep. Barbara Lee Zindzi Mandela, Daughter, His Excellency Nelson R. Mandela Youssou N’Dour Then President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria Congressman Donald M. Payne Then Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin Former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D. Joni Sledge Then President Nicephore Soglo of Benin Then Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (Md.) Then HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman, and CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation Then OAU/African Union Chairman, Prime Minister Zenawi of Ethiopia		Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright Then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Lennart Bage, International Fund for Agricultural Development Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Then President Bizimungu of Rwanda Julian Bond Mark Malloch Brown Rep. Elijah Cummings Then Senator Tom Daschle Jacques Diouf, Food, and Agriculture Organization Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Ph.D. Then Rep. Benjamin Gilman Then Labor Secretary Alexis Herman The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Omar Kabbaj, African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka, African Development Bank Senator Edward M. Kennedy Coretta Scott King Rep. Tom Lantos Then President Masire of Botswana Mora McLean, Africa America Institute The Honorable Kweisi Mfume H.M. King Mswati III of Swaziland President Muluzi of Malawi Then President Patasse of the CAR Senator Claiborne Pell Rep. Nancy Pelosi Hugh B. Price, National Urban League Rep. Charles Rangel Rep. Ed Royce Then Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater Then President Vieira of Guinea-Bissau Eddie Williams, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

 

2017 Major Sponsors

    PLATINUM SPONSOR

Chevron

GOLD SPONSORS

ExxonMobil

Pan African

Merck

SILVER SPONSORS

Microsoft

Pfizer

BRONZE SPONSORS

Kupanda

Covington

Kosmos

Peter Francis
Lauretta Bruno

2015 Major Sponsors

 

Africare’s 2015 Bishop Walker Memorial Dinner was supported by numerous major sponsors, including the those above.  Logos: Courtesy of Respective

2014 Major Sponsors

Africare’s 2014 Bishop Walker Memorial Dinner was supported by numerous major sponsors, including the those above.  Logos: Courtesy of Respective

Past Major Financial Supporters

Abbott Laboratories African Development Bank Group American Express Company Anheuser-Busch Companies AOL Time Warner Archer Daniels Midland Company AT&T BBC Worldwide Black Entertainment Television (BET) BP Amoco Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Chase Manhattan Bank Chevron Corporation Citigroup The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation The Coca-Cola Company Colgate-Palmolive Company Comcast Cable Communications Cookson Group, plc Corporate Council on Africa Cox Communications DaimlerChrysler Corporation Dangote Group DeBeers Group Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Delta Air Lines Discovery Communications, Inc. DuPont Eastman Kodak Company Exxon Mobil Corporation Ford Motor Company General Electric General Motors Corporation

GlaxoSmithKline Goldman, Sachs & Co. GoodWorks International IBM Corporation International Paper Company Johnson & Johnson Kupanda Capital Limited Brands Lockheed Martin Corporation Mars Incorporated McGladrey Merck & Co., Inc. Merrill Lynch Microsoft Corporation Millicom Foundation Monsanto Company Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Norfolk Southern Corporation Oracle Corporation Pan African Capital Group, LLC Pfizer Inc. PricewaterhouseCoopers The Procter & Gamble Company Sara Lee Corporation SBC Communications Inc. Shell International Limited Sony Corporation of America Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) TRW United Parcel Service, Inc. White & Case, LLP World Cocoa Foundation WorldSpace Corporation Xerox Corporation