Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan

Rev. Sullivan founded OICI to help Africans develop the skills they needed to take advantage of new work opportunities.

At OICI, we dedicate ourselves to the mission set out for us by our founder, the late civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Leon H. Sullivan. OICI shares close ties with its sister organizations: OIC of America, the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) and the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, all of which were founded by Reverend Sullivan. With a shared history and philosophy, these organizations are united in their mission to further the goals of justice, development and hope to which Reverend Sullivan devoted his life.

His Life & Work

A graduate of West Virginia State University, Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, Sullivan was ordained a minister at the age of 19. While leading churches and communities in West Virginia, New York and Philadelphia, he developed his strategy of nonviolent, direct action and social development through community-based organizations. It was from the pulpit that he pioneered selective patronage in the 1950s and 60s, urging churchgoers to boycott companies that stifled employment opportunities for black men and women.

The OIC movement emerged directly from the successes of the selective patronage campaigns.  Sullivan was successful in opening opportunities to African-Americans, yet there was a strong need to provide training and skills to youth so they could benefit from these successes.  In 1964, Reverend Sullivan founded OIC of America in an abandoned jailhouse in North Philadelphia. The program took individuals with little hope and few prospects and offered them job training and instruction in life skills and then helped place them into jobs. The movement quickly spread around the nation and by 1970, around the world. Nearly 40 years later, more than three million people have been trained by OIC programs worldwide.

His AchievementsReverend Sullivan is also known for a variety of other achievements.

• First black board member of a major U.S. corporation (General Motors).
• Developed the Sullivan Principles for businesses operating in South Africa during the apartheid regime--principles based on equal opportunity and rights.  These principles were expanded upon and are now known as the Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility and have been endorsed by the United Nations.  More than 300 organizations have committed to adhere to the principles, which outline standards in the areas of human rights, social and economic justice, and labor and business practices.
• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992
• Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Recipient of the Notre Dame Award
• Recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award
• Recipient of the NAACP Spingarn Award
• Recipient of the Kappa Alpha Psi Laurel Wreath
• Awarded more than 50 honorary doctoral degrees

A man of courage and inspiration, a servant to the people, and a man of great faith, Reverend Sullivan passed away on April 24, 2001.

OIC International was founded in 1970 in response to requests for Reverend Sullivan’s assistance from local citizen groups in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Ghana. OICI's original model focused on establishing independent affiliate organizations with the goal of creating local, self-sustaining local organizations that would carry out Sullivan's vision of self-help.  OICI has successfully provided affiliate organizations with the technical assistance they need to offer skills development programs to underprivileged youth.  OICI has helped to establish an independent affiliate network in 18 countries. Many of OICI's affiliates, some of which have been in continuous operation for over 30 years, are now completely self-sustaining organizations, with the capacity to secure their own resources and plan and implement their own projects.  OICI's affiliate network truly lives up to Sullivan's vision of self-help.

For more on OICI's work, click here.