Program: “Living Legend: Social Activism to Executive Philanthropy”
Xernona Clayton is a civil rights leader and pioneering broadcasting executive best known as the founder and CEO of the Trumpet Awards (1993), an annual awards program televised by the TBS network and distributed internationally to over 185 countries. The program features the accomplishments of African Americans in a variety of fields. Clayton also is the driving force behind the complementary project the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Sitein Atlanta. Clayton worked undercover for the Chicago Urban League investigating employment discrimination before moving to Atlanta in 1965 to organize events for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). She developed a deep friendship with Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
In the early 1980s, Clayton became the first black woman corporate executive at TBS when Ted Turner appointed her director and vice-president of public affairs. She became the media giant’s assistant corporate vice-president for urban affairs in 1988. In that capacity, she served as a liaison between Turner Broadcasting and local as well as national community organizations.
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