PNTB Quick Take: When Legends Leave. UNCF and Dr. Michael Lomax
Aug 13, 2026 · 4 min · 4 segments
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Celly CelHost
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Aug 13, 2026 · 4 min · 4 segments
Celly CelHost
Listen, guys, the Dr. Michael Lomax has announced that he is stepping down as leader, president, I'm sorry, of the United Negro College Fund after over two decades at the helm, man, two decades.
I'm talking about a man under his leadership, They've raised over $4 billion, B with a B, for students.
They've helped hundreds of thousands of students, and that's what it's all about, under his leadership.
But what we want to talk about is succession planning, like what happens when the legend has to step away from the game? LeBron James? Drew Brees? When you have a leader that has been at the helm over 15, 20, 30 years, donors don't just know your organization.
Now they know that person and they begin to develop a relationship with that person that sometimes makes it hard for the donor to separate the brand of the individual from the brand of the organization.
And that in turn kind of will set the new leadership back at a deficit or whatever when you haven't done the proper planning to introduce your team in this process to your donors.
And when I say hooked on that one person, it becomes sometimes a problem because donors disappear when we haven't done the due diligence needed.
You should be building relationships between your donors and multiple staff members, not just one.
It's called advancement because not only you advance the mission of the organization and a lot of that is external work.
If you have a cabinet, are you bringing them and introducing them to the right people? You strengthen your board and also you get that next generation of leadership up and running.
whoever's taking the helm and whoever's there stepping or whoever's there stepping up.
And what I think you're trying to do is make sure that your strategic plan doesn't reside in one person's head and not a person is leaving.
So if you take the right steps and have that runway, you give that new leadership an opportunity to step into the role fully.
Listen, guys, the Dr. Michael Lomax has announced that he is stepping down as leader, president, I'm sorry, of the United Negro College Fund after over two decades at the helm, man, two decades.
I'm talking about a man under his leadership, They've raised over $4 billion, B with a B, for students.
They've helped hundreds of thousands of students, and that's what it's all about, under his leadership.
But what we want to talk about is succession planning, like what happens when the legend has to step away from the game? LeBron James? Drew Brees? When you have a leader that has been at the helm over 15, 20, 30 years, donors don't just know your organization.
Now they know that person and they begin to develop a relationship with that person that sometimes makes it hard for the donor to separate the brand of the individual from the brand of the organization.
And that in turn kind of will set the new leadership back at a deficit or whatever when you haven't done the proper planning to introduce your team in this process to your donors.
And when I say hooked on that one person, it becomes sometimes a problem because donors disappear when we haven't done the due diligence needed.
You should be building relationships between your donors and multiple staff members, not just one.
It's called advancement because not only you advance the mission of the organization and a lot of that is external work.
If you have a cabinet, are you bringing them and introducing them to the right people? You strengthen your board and also you get that next generation of leadership up and running.
whoever's taking the helm and whoever's there stepping or whoever's there stepping up.
And what I think you're trying to do is make sure that your strategic plan doesn't reside in one person's head and not a person is leaving.
So if you take the right steps and have that runway, you give that new leadership an opportunity to step into the role fully.
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