IN MEMORIAM
GENERAL COLIN L. POWELL
1937 – 2021
The Eisenhower Fellowships global family mourns the passing of our Chairman Emeritus, General Colin L. Powell, a distinguished American leader whose example will inspire us always.
General Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state whose leadership in several Republican administrations helped shape American foreign policy in the last years of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, has died from complications from Covid-19, his family said on Facebook. He was 84.
Soldier, statesman, civic leader and champion of young people everywhere, General Powell advised presidents and led America’s armed forces and global diplomacy before coming to Eisenhower Fellowships, an organization he led with distinction for 12 years. The general’s extraordinary life was chronicled today in many obituaries, including this one in The Washington Post.
His successor as Eisenhower Fellowships Chairman, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, honored the memory of General Powell today.
“America has lost a great patriot and public servant with the passing of Colin Powell,” Secretary Gates said. “A friend for nearly forty years, Colin’s whole life was about duty, honor and country. He is gone far too soon. My thoughts and prayers are with General Powell’s family.”
Under his leadership as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, EF expanded and strengthened its operations in China, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, welcoming Vietnam, Myanmar and Qatar into our global network and hosting the first regional program dedicated to the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa in the organization’s history.
During his watch, Eisenhower Fellowships intensified its work in women’s leadership, doubled the size of its USA Program to send exceptional American leaders overseas and strengthened our network of Fellows around the world. Under his leadership, we have deepened, broadened and diversified our global pool of applicants and added a number of dynamic new programs, expanding our work in innovation and critical fields such as the future of work and future of education.
With General Powell’s support and encouragement, Eisenhower Fellows now combine their transformational leadership experience with concrete projects with a positive real-world impact when they return to their countries, mentoring younger leaders behind them.
These are all testaments to General Powell’s visionary leadership and his deep engagement with our Fellows. In gratitude for his distinguished service and commitment to the principles of our namesake, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Board of Trustees in 2018 bestowed upon General Powell the status of Chairman Emeritus.
In his later years, General Powell dedicated much of his time and energy to young people and education. He was especially proud of the work of Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York, his alma mater, and at his behest EF has partnered with the school. He and Mrs. Powell founded and led America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit focused on making young people our national priority.
When he stepped down as our Chairman in 2018, the EF global family honored General Powell at a gala farewell dinner at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. President Joe Biden was the keynote speaker and former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama delivered video tributes to the general, while late President George H. W. Bush sent a written message to the more than 435 assembled guests from scores of countries.
Also sending video tributes to General Powell that night were late National Security Adviser General Brent Scowcroft, EF Chairman Emeritus Henry Kissinger and former U.S. secretaries of state James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and our EF Trustee Madeleine Albright. Here is the link to those videos.
At the gala farewell dinner, our Philadelphia Fellow Jane Golden, executive director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and a group of young people presented General Powell with the digital visual image of our parting gift to him, a powerful mural dedicated to General Powell. The mural is now displayed on a large external wall of Olney Charter High School in the Olney section of northeast Philadelphia, where the general’s legacy will live on forever.
General Powell couldn’t attend the dedication of the mural that fall. But he sent me a message that I read to the assembled crowd of predominantly Black and Latino students.
”I regret that I am unable to be with you today,” General Powell wrote. “But I wanted all to know how proud I am of this mural dedicated to me on the occasion of my stepping down from the chairmanship of the Eisenhower Fellowships. I was given a print of the mural and it is on the wall next to my desk.
“The students who did the painting have my heartfelt thanks….My greatest hope is that as people pass by the mural, they will note and reflect on my quote. Success in life comes not by magic, but by hard work. Remember and believe that—especially my young students.”
We extend our deepest condolences to Mrs. Powell and the Powell family. Their loss is our loss, and America’s loss. May he rest in peace.
George
George de Lama|President
Eisenhower Fellowships
Eisenhower moments with General Powell
“I didn’t know men like him existed”
Colin Powell’s legacy with Philly youth
The Philadelphia Inquirer – Opinion | By George de Lama
The tall African American young man stood proudly alongside two of his fellow students at Olney Charter School. He was visibly moved as he stepped to the microphone set up in front of their artwork they were dedicating that day, a lasting visual tribute to an extraordinary American whose life had inspired them.
“It was an honor to work on this project,” Darontaye Blake said. “I didn’t know men like him existed.”
The role model he was referring to was Gen. Colin L. Powell, whose loss the country is mourning after his family announced on Monday that he had died of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 84. Read more here.
Farewell Celebration Dinner
National Constitution Center
May 2018
When he stepped down as our Chairman in 2018, the EF global family honored General Powell at a gala farewell dinner at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. President Joe Biden was the keynote speaker and former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama delivered video tributes to the general, while late President George H. W. Bush sent a written message to the more than 435 assembled guests from scores of countries.
Also sending video tributes to General Powell that night were late National Security Adviser General Brent Scowcroft, EF Chairman Emeritus Henry Kissinger and former U.S. secretaries of state James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and our EF Trustee Madeleine Albright.
From the EF Family