B&C Associates Inc. Founder and CEO Robert J. Brown was recognized with the first Spirit of Health Award for extraordinary and tireless work to elevate communities of health.
“Bob Brown is a champion in any setting he puts himself in, whether it be in the board room, whether it be by a friend’s side,” said Robert A. Ingram in presenting the Spirit of Health Award. “I’ve watched him overcome life’s challenges and I’ve watched him inspire a whole legion of young men to achieve better things for themselves and better things for their whole community.”
(From left): Bob Brown, Robert A. Ingram
“I know ensuring diversity and health equity is no longer just a matter of social justice,” Brown said. “In the 21st century, those organizations that refuse to embrace this will be at a competitive disadvantage. Health equity is an absolute evolution that is critical right now in all of our lives. We must embrace this together, we can, and we will. Lives depend on us.”
The Spirit of Health Award was created in 2021 to focus attention on the health of those disproportionately affected by cancer and the difference that one person can make through their leadership, vision, passion, and pure drive to connect people and institutions to eliminate disparities.
The Award will recognize individuals who have worked in extraordinary and tireless ways to elevate communities of health, accelerate Health Equity, bridge the gap of the cancer burden, expand cancer prevention and health education, ensure access to care, and in doing so they have changed the course of lives.
Brown was recognized in part for his advocacy as an ambassador for the Going for Gold initiative launched by the CEO Roundtable to partner with member corporations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) to elevate the health of those disproportionately affected by cancer.
But Brown’s life reflects work to serve others. In his corporate role, Brown is CEO & Founder of B&C Associates Inc., a global business management consulting firm headquartered in High Point, NC. He also founded the International BookSmart Foundation, a nonprofit that to date has shipped over 5 million books, countless teachers’ supplies and opened over 300 libraries on the continent of Africa.
A pioneer in crisis management, multi-cultural communication and race relations, Dr. Brown advised, traveled with, and raised money for the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; was a member of the corporate plans board of Carl Byoir & Associates (the largest public relations firm in the world at the time), and was a close friend and confidant to the Mandela family. Early in his PR career he was contracted by F.W. Woolworth Corporation, A&P Supermarkets, Wrangler, Sara Lee, SC Johnson, and Kimberly-Clark, to handle corporate communications and race relations during pivotal moments of the civil rights movement.
Proclaimed by The Washington Post as a “World Class Power Broker”, Dr. Brown has a long legacy of service and counsel to corporate, educational, and civic organizations. In 1964, he assisted in the election of Robert F. Kennedy into the United States Senate and also assisted in his presidential bid. In 1968, he took a leave of absence from B&C Associates to serve as Special Assistant to President Richard Nixon and his responsibilities included community relations, civil rights, emergency preparedness, small towns, and day care. Dr. Brown has been credited with starting and developing the U. S. Minority Enterprise Program and initiating the U. S. Government Black College Program through Executive Order by President Richard Nixon.