The Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership is a U.S. presidential honor to recognize companies "for the exemplary quality of their relationships with employees and communities". It is presented to companies that "have demonstrated a deep commitment to innovative initiatives that not only empower employees and communities but also advance strategic business interests".

Establishment

President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, along with prominent business leaders, established the award in 1997 following

Ron Brown Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Co ...

's death in a plane crash in 1996. The award was originally referred to as Ron Brown Corporate Citizenship Award.

The Conference Board The Conference Board, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit business membership and research group organization. It counts over 1,000 public and private corporations and other organizations as members, encompassing 60 countries. The Conference Board co ...

, a non-profit organization, was chosen to manage the award's administration. Ron Brown was the

U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

from 1993–1996; he was the first African-American to hold that position. This award and the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellen ...

are the two presidential awards to corporations.

Ceremony

The award is presented in an annual White House ceremony, either by the President or by the Secretary of Commerce.

Recipients

2006–2007

Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American Fortune 100 energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and incorporated in Pennsylvania. It generates revenues of approximately $33.5 billion and employs approximately 33,400 people. Exelon is the largest ...

Northrop Grumman Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one ...

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

2005–2006

* Sallie Mae * Weyerhaeuser Company

2004–2005

* S.C. Johnson * Johnson & Johnson *

Bayer Corporation Bayer Corporation (also known as Bayer USA) is the American subsidiary of Bayer AG. Its main offices are located in Whippany, New Jersey. In addition it has 40 fully consolidated subsidiary companies located in 19 different states. History Bayer ...

* A. Kwadjo Mystical & Sons https://www.jnj.com/media-center/press-releases/the-amazing-nurses-contest-celebrating-americas-caregivers

2003–2004

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

* KeySpan Corporation *

Luxottica Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world's largest company in the eyewear industry. It is based in Milan, Italy. Luxottica is a vertically integrated company, which has been described as a monopoly—it designs, ma ...

2002–2003

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

2001–2002

* SBC Communications * Timberland *

Wal-Mart Stores Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

2000–2001

* Alcoa * Merck *

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

1999–2000

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

* Hewlett-Packard * IBM Corporation *

US West US West, Inc. (stylized as US WEST) was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, also referred to as "Baby Bells"), created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement (''United States v. Western Electric Co., Inc.'' 552 ...

1998–1999

* Anheuser-Busch Companies *

BankBoston BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 19 ...

* Cascade Engineering *

Seafirst Bank Seafirst Corporation was an American bank holding company based in Seattle, Washington. Its banking subsidiary, Seafirst Bank, was the largest bank in Washington, with 235 branches and 497 ATMs across the state. Formed in 1929 via the merger ...

* Linda A. Mason and Roger H. Brown

1997–1998

* IBM Corporation * Levi Strauss & Co.

References

Conference Board report on the recipients

Levi Strauss award mention

2002 award

External links

* Business and industry awards Civil awards and decorations of the United States Awards established in 1997 1997 establishments in the United States {{Award-stub