National United Way CEO Highlights AALS Awards Gala

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The United Way of Anderson County honored local leaders at the 2023 African American Leadership Society Gala held Saturday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anderson.

“You have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars,” said National United Way President and CEO Angela F. Williams, an Anderson native, who was keynote speaker for the event.

“This place represents the foundation of who I am, and who I have grown up to be over the years,” said Williams.

This year’s award surprised Williams with a new gala recognition, the Chaplain James Charles Williams Award, named in honor of her father.

This year’s winners of the AALS awards are: Angel Wheeler, Emerging Leadership Award; Spencer Jones, Ambassador Leadership Award; La Torrie Geer, Community Trailblazer Award; Apostle James Bennet, Dr. Beatrice Thompson Legacy Award; and Dr. Ankoma Anderson, the Chaplain James Charles Williams Award.

The gala also recognized the important work of the Pendleton Rhinos, which mentors young men, and the Anderson Remembrance and Reconciliation Committee, which has led efforts to honor the five individuals who were victims of lynchings in Anderson County during the Post-Reconstruction Era of 1894-1911.