Kermit Eady (January 13, 1940 – February 4, 2019) was an American

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er, educator, motivational speaker,

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and the co-founder of The Black United Fund of New York.

Early life and education

Kermit was born in

St. Stephen, South Carolina St. Stephen is a town in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,697 at the 2010 census. St. Stephen is included within the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metropolitan area. History The Keller Site and St. ...

. He was the youngest of nine children. He attended Saint Stephen's public school system. His family moved to

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

, New York City, where he attended John Adams High School. His family attended Saint Mark A.M.E. Church in

East Elmhurst East Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the northwest section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Jackson Heights and Corona, to the north and east by Bowery Bay, and to the west by Woodside and Ditmars ...

, Queens. Eady received a B.A. degree from

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He received a master's degree in social work from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He was an assistant professor at

Medgar Evers College Medgar Evers College is a public college in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offering baccalaureate and associate degrees. It was officially established in 1970 through cooperation between educator ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He also served as director of admissions and recruitment for

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

Graduate School of Social Work.

Career

In 1979, Kermit Eady and Larry Barton founded the Black United Fund of New York (BUFNY), a non-profit organization for African-American and minority communities to development self-help, empowerment, development and financial resources, with $8,000 in capital. As president and CEO of BUFNY, Eady was able to attain workplace charitable solicitation through participation in corporate payroll deduction systems the

Combined Federal Campaign The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the workplace giving program of the federal government of the United States. The program is authorized by executive order 12353 (as amended) of March 23, 1982, and is overseen by the United States Office of ...

(CFC). The CFC is a workplace-giving program that collects donations payroll deductions by the United States Federal government program authorized by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

on March 23, 1982. Through this program, BUFNY was able to obtain contributions from the

Freedom National Bank Freedom National Bank was an African-American owned bank in Harlem (New York City) founded in 1964 and shut down in 1990. Freedom National served Harlem's Black community and was one of the largest Black owned banks in the U.S. Its main office was a ...

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

, I.B.M. New York Telephone Company. Under Eady's leadership, the CFC helped to grow BUFNY from the initially $8,000 to $15 million by 2013 and developed more than 400 affordable housing in New York City. In 2003, BUFNY purchased a radio station that broadcast the BUFNY-produced show ''The Empowerment Hour'', which was hosted by Eady.

Controversy

In 2002, Attorney General of New York State

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was b ...

started an investigation of BUFNY, citing the non-profit's shift in focus to housing and land development without notifying its donors. Spitzer named an interim board, which voted to remove Eady from his position as president in 2003, citing "a fundamental, profound, philosophical difference" in the way that Eady fundraised contributions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eady, Kermit American businesspeople 2019 deaths 1940 births People from St. Stephen, South Carolina People from Jamaica, Queens John Adams High School (Queens) alumni Morgan State University alumni New York University alumni Medgar Evers College faculty Norfolk State University faculty