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The JU Public Policy Institute has bolstered its board with the additions of Joe Louis Barrow Jr., CEO of nonprofit The First Tee, and Willard Payne, president of Northern Florida Recruiting & Consulting Services.
JU PPI Director Rick Mullaney also announced that Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will address the board’s meeting at 7 p.m. this Thursday, April 25.”
Both Mr. Barrow and Mr. Payne bring extensive experience to the board and are extraordinary community and business leaders,” Mullaney said. “We are honored to have them.”
The 25-member Board of Advisors is non-partisan and was established last year. It has a cross-section of some of Florida’s most outstanding business, civic and community leaders.
Biographies of the two new board members are below.
In addition to Bondi, Jason Altmire, Florida Blue Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Government and Community Affairs, and a former congressman, will speak at the meeting on health care and expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Mullaney said.
To learn more about the JU PPI or to apply, visit www.ju.edu/ppi, e-mail rmullan1@ju.edu or call (904) 955-1857.
BIOGRAPHIES
Joe Louis Barrow Jr.
Joe Louis Barrow Jr., son of famed boxer Joe Louis, is chief executive of The First Tee, a non-profit youth organization that gives young people of all backgrounds the opportunity to develop life-enhancing values. The First Tee network includes about 200 chapters in more than 750 golf locations and has reached more than 5,300 schools in 800 school districts worldwide. Barrow has more than 40 years of business, marketing and public relations experience, including serving as vice president, corporate marketing, Wood Brothers; director, Office of Commercialization, Conservation and Solar Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; and senior advisor to Ronald H. Brown, chairman, Democratic National Committee (DNC). Author of his father’s biography, “Joe Louis: 50 Years an American Hero” (1988), Barrow received the “Gold Tee” Award from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association and was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame, joining his father on the 25th anniversary of his father’s recognition.
Willard Payne
Willard Payne is president of Northern Florida Recruiting & Consulting Services Inc. (NFRCS) and directs professional recruiting, consulting and lobbying client services. An educator by training, he spent 14 years with the Chicago Public School System as a teacher and district administrator. In 1975, he left Chicago when he was awarded several McDonald’s Corp. franchises in Jacksonville. He was the first African-American franchise operator in the city and built four stores, hiring more than 500 employees. The mayor of Jacksonville appointed Payne as the first African American to serve on the Jacksonville Port Authority Board, and he also served as the first president of The 100 Black Men of Jacksonville and the Downtown Rotary Club. Payne received his bachelor’s degree in education from Xavier University in New Orleans, and holds a master of science degree in education administration and supervision from Loyola University in Chicago.