Roundup: ‘Sir Charles’ to co-chair The World Games 2022
We take pride in our business coverage at Iron City Ink, including our business profiles and monthly real estate update. In fact, Iron City Ink was recently named the winner for Best Local Economic Coverage in our division for 2019 by the Alabama Press Association.
We’re adding another element to our coverage with this month’s business roundup, focusing on important personnel moves and other local items. We will publish this feature on an irregular basis.
This month we feature a basketball superstar from Alabama who will play a key role in the World Games in Birmingham in 2022, an effort by the Birmingham Museum of Art to foster diversity and some other recent items.
‘A GLOBAL ICON’
The Birmingham Organizing Committee of The World Games 2022 announced July 8 that Alabama native and former NBA superstar Charles Barkley will serve as an honorary co-chair for the event, to be held in the Magic City July 7-17, 2022.
The World Games 2022 will bring 3,600 athletes from more than 100 countries to Birmingham to compete in 33 unique sports at 20 venues.
Barkley will participate in several major events, including the opening ceremony. He’ll also seek to generate community support for the event.
“I’ve always told anyone who would listen — and even those who wouldn’t — how great the state of Alabama and the Birmingham community are,” Barkley said in a news release.
Representing The World Games 2022 “is another chance to show the world what this community and its people are all about,” he said
.A native of Leeds, Barkley played basketball at Auburn University and spent 16 years in the NBA. He was an NBA All-Star 11 times, won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA and was named league MVP in 1993.
“It’s an honor to have a global icon and one of Alabama’s most beloved sports figures join us for this once-in-a-lifetime event for Birmingham,” said Nick Sellers, CEO of The Word Games 2022.
The Birmingham Organizing Committee plans to announce some other internationally known people with Alabama as honorary co-chairs in the coming months.
For more information, go to TWG2022.com.
NEW LEADERSHIP
The Birmingham Museum of Art has named Emily G. Hanna — the facility’s senior curator for art from Africa and the Americas — as director of diversity, equity and inclusion, a new position on the BMA’s executive leadership team. The BMA made the announcement June 24.
In this new role, Hanna will lead efforts to “create an institutional environment that is welcoming, accessible, diverse, hospitable and respectful to all,” according to a BMA news release.
Hanna will be responsible for numerous objectives, such as the integration of diversity into BMA collections, workforce development, supplier diversity and the development of accountability metrics.
“At the Birmingham Museum of Art, we now understand the urgency with which we must address systemic racism from an institutional standpoint, even amid the challenges presented by a global pandemic,” BMA Director Graham C. Boettcher said. “The creation of this important position on our leadership team is the first actionable step we have taken since the BMA publicly committed to support the work of social justice and racial equity in early June."
Hanna, who received her Ph.D. in African Art from the University of Iowa, has served at the BMA for nearly 18 years. She has curated over 30 exhibitions ranging from Haitian Vodou flags to contemporary Pueblo ceramics and serves as curator of Native American art.
Hanna has also worked with numerous local community organizations and faith groups, including the Ghana Sister City Committee and the Birmingham Islamic Society. She was the founding organizer of the annual Miles College Night at the Museum, now in its sixth year.
For more about the BMA, go to artsbma.org.
‘A HUGE HEART’
Peter Curtin, vice president of CRC Group, was named chair of the Board of Directors and Advisors for Glenwood, a Birmingham nonprofit, on June 16.
Glenwood provides behavioral health care and educational services for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and severe emotional disturbances.
Curtin has a long history with Glenwood. He joined the Junior Board in 2005 and has served on the board since 2008.
“Peter brings a great business acumen and a huge heart for our community and our mission,” Glenwood President and CEO Ken Oliver said.
For more information about Glenwood, go to glenwood.org.
PROVIDING SUPPORT
Forge Survivorship Center, a Southside nonprofit, recently named Lauren Roberts its new executive director.
Forge partners with local health systems to provide support to breast cancer survivors and their families.
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Roberts assumed her duties at Forge on June 1. She most recently served as vice president of strategic communications and development at A+ Education Partnership in Montgomery. Roberts was also president of the Junior League of Birmingham in 2016-17 and currently serves as president of the Members’ Council at Leadership Birmingham.
To learn more, go to forgeon.org.
WESTERN NEWS
The Western Communities Redevelopment Alliance (WCRA) — along with the Five Points West Business Alliance — announced the launch of the Western Small Business Accelerator in June.
The accelerator is an alliance between the University of Alabama Culverhouse School of Accountancy LIFT program, the Midfield Chamber of Commerce, the Fairfield Business Alliance and the Bessemer Industrial Development Board.
Businesses in the program will attend workshops and complete projects and receive certification from the LIFT program upon completion.
“In the midst of a global pandemic and the economic crisis that has followed, our relationship with the WCRA has become more vital than ever before,” said Frank Woodson, president of the Five Points West Business Alliance. “Our mission prior to the pandemic was to help businesses grow and thrive. Today we have a new mission, which is to help businesses survive.”
The WCRA is presenting a series of small business workshops using Zoom through the summer and fall.
For details, go to wcranow.com.