Rev. Leon Sullivan was not only a notable civil rights leader, but an advocate for workforce development and skills training. The longtime pastor of North Philadelphia’s Zion Baptist Church also founded Philadelphia OIC, or Opportunities Industrialization Center, the nonprofit that’s offered job training and placement and other services for almost 60 years.

As we celebrate the work of his contemporary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, North Philly-based Leon Sullivan Charitable Trust hopes to use MLK Day 2021 as an opportunity to educate communities on equity.

“We have a lot of work to do in order to advance what Dr. King and Dr. Sullivan started,” Executive Director John. C. “Jack” Johnson III said. “A lot of their work came to light in the 1960s but was nowhere near the beginning. In the ’60s they were able finally to advance their work where the rest of the country, and in some cases, rest of the world were able to pay attention. They advanced all people to a whole new level of freedom in respective areas of the country.”

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