2023 Frederick Douglass Award Honorees
The Frederick Douglass and Ann Kheel Awards
are bestowed upon individuals and organizations that reflect the mission of the
League, and their support and activism make all the difference.
Alison Overseth
Chief Executive Officer
Partnership for After School Education (PASE)
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
Alfre Woodard
Actor, Producer and Activist
Thomas Halloran
President and CEO,
Fidelis Care
Regional SVP, Centene Corporation

2022 Frederick Douglass Award Recipients
Rashida Jones
President, MSNBC
Phylicia Rashad
Tony Award-winning Actress
& Civil Rights Advocate
James Rhee
Acclaimed Impact Leader
Joi Brown
Founder & CEO, Culture Creators
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
Frederick Douglass & Ann S. Kheel Award
Past Recipients
2021
Hank Aaron, posthumously
Micheal Dowling
Crystal McCrary
Raymond McGuire
Dan Schulman
2019
Grasshopper Bancorp, Inc.
Sunny Hostin
Kenneth Thompson, posthumously
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2018
Dapper Dan (Icon Award)
Kyle Hagler
Valeisha Butterfield Jones
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2017
Erica Payne (Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
Tracy Reese
Tiffany R. Warren
2016
Amalgamated Bank
Sherry Bronfman
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
Michael Cardozo
Deutsch (Volunteer Award)
2015
Jason Franklin
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
GEICO
Macy’s
Dennis M. Walcott
2014
Edward Enniful
CVS Caremark
John King (Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2013
Bethann Hardison
UPS
NYUL Young Professionals
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2012
Charles M. Blow
Zane Tankel and Apple-Metro
KEM
Michele Cahill (Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2011
The Hon. David N. Dinkins
Marcus Samuelsson
Cora Weiss (Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2010
Scott Mills
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susan Patricoff
(Ann S. Kheel Honoree)
2009
Susan W. Dryfoos
William M. Lewis, Jr.
Jessye Norman
2008
Marva Aleen, Hue-Man Bookstoree
Raymond McGuire, Citi
Franklin A. Thomas, TFF Study Group
2007
Deborah Roberts
Al Roker
Allan H. (Bud) Selig
Greater Harlem Chamber of
Commerce
JP Morgan Chase
2006
Jack Belsito
Paul Charron
Dr. Marcella Maxwell
Michael Robinson
2005
John Esposito
Tonya Lewis Lee
David Slackman
2004
Michael Caridi
Jeffrey S. Fried
Bud Greenspan
Ken Kaess
Marie Christmas Rhone
2003
Gerald Boyd
Carla A. Harris
Dennis D. Swanson
2002
Ralph Dickerson, Jr.
Westina Matthews Shatteen
Robert B. Willumstad
2001
Mrs. Theodore W. Kheel
Ken Miller
Russell Simmons
Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor
2000
Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.
Toni Fay
Tom Freston
1999
Earl G. Graves, Sr.
Dr. Muriel Petioni
Walter V. Shipley
1998
Barbara Smith
George M. Steinbrenner, III
Eugene h. Webb
1997
Dick Gidron, Sr.
Victor Gotbaum
Cicely Tyson
1996
Wynton Marsalis
Leonard Riggio
1995
Edward Lewis
Josie McMillian
James E. Preston
1994
John J. Barrett
Eugene L. McCabe
1993
Dr. James R. Dumpson
Osborn Elliott
Judith Jamison
1992
Horace W. Morris
William A. Schreyer
1991
Ahmet M. Ertegun
Theodore W. Kheel
Florence M. Rice
1990
John B. Carter
Bishop Emerson J. Moore
Dr. Betty Shabazz
1989
Stanley W. Hill
Hon. John V. Lindsay
Dr. Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
1988
Harry Belafonte
Mrs. Kate Hicks
Thomas S. Murphy
1987
Dorothy I. Height
Lloyd Richards
Lewis Rudin
1986
James L. Ferguson
Dr. Bernard W. Harleston
John T. Patterson, Jr.
1985
James Chancey, Andrew Goodman &
Michael Schwerner, in tribute
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
1984
Gordon Parks
Lillian Roberts
Tom Wicker
1983
Lois K. Alexander
David J. Mahoney
Hon. Percy E. Sutton
1982
Clara Hale
Joseph Papp
Rev. M. Moran Weston
1981
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp.
Doris Turner
George Weissman
1980
369th Veteran’s Association, inc.
Arthur Mitchell
George Wein
1979
His Eminence, Cardinal Cooke
Louise Fisher Morris, in Memoriam
Gil Noble
1978
Romare Bearden
Lloyd K. Garrison
Hon. Ernest G. Green
1977
Bertha Harris
Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr.
Dr. Robert C. Weaver
1976
James L. Hicks
Hon. Constance Baker Motley
J. Henry Smith
1975
*Aspiring Youth in the Street
Academy Program*
Dr. John L.S. Holloman, Jr.
John Mosler
1974
Dr. Kenneth Clark
Dr. Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Andrew Heiskel
1973
Robert A. Bernhard
Jackie Robinson, in Memoriam
1972
Joan Ganz Cooney
Rev. William A. Jones, Jr.
Whitney M. Young, Jr., in Memoriam
1971
Ennis Francis
Frederick D. O’Neal
Pepsi-Cola Company
1970
Ossie Davis
Ruby Dee
Harvey G. Mehlhouse
1969
Dr. Albert H. Bowker The Boys of Yesteryear, Inc. Donald McGannon
1968
Stephen & Audrey Currier, in
Memoriam
Hon. Robert J. Magnum
Rev. Msgr. Gregory Mooney
1967
Gardner Cowles
Rev. Leo McLaughlin, S.J.
Rev. James H. Robinson, D.D.
1966
A. Philip Randolph
Robert W. Sarnoff
Hon. Robert F. Wagner