KENNY MORRIS, Founder & President, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives
Board President
Mr. Morris descends from two of the most influential names in American history: he is the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington. His mother, Nettie Washington Douglass, is the daughter of Nettie Hancock Washington (granddaughter of Booker T. Washington), and Dr. Frederick Douglass III (great-grandson of Frederick Douglass). Ken’s life until the year 2007 could be described as distinguished yet decisively disengaged from his lineage until Providence called.
Ken continues his family’s legacy of anti-slavery and educational work as co-founder and president of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI). His career and life path are driven by a clear focus on FDFI’s mission“[t]o Advance Freedom through Knowledge and Strategic Action.”
An accomplished and prolific public speaker, Ken regularly appears before charitable organizations, local, state, and federal government agencies, civic organizations, and students across the country. He has lectured at universities including Columbia University, Morehouse College, UNLV, Tuskegee University, Loyola University Chicago, and Yale University, and has appeared on CNN, Democracy Now!, PBS, NPR, The Tavis Smiley Show, and the CBS Evening News. Ken is honored to have been a keynote speaker at the United Nations on several occasions.
Prior to co-founding FDFI in 2007, Ken was a partner at C&A Marketing, a marketing and entertainment firm partnership, recognized as a leader in the field of corporate meetings, incentive travel, and the development of customized marketing programs. He has been a member of the board of directors for Kaleidoscope Arts Factory, a nonprofit performing arts organization for children in Corona, California, the Booker T. Washington Family Committee, and the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the University of La Verne. Ken is a director of the Frederick Douglass Ireland Project and an Ambassador for the nonprofit organization Human Rights First. In November 2017, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi named him to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission where he serves as Commission Chair.