Incentive - February 2008 - (Page 30)

INTERVIEW vision and having what it takes to help enable others to find their place in that vision. It involves knowing the difference between knowledge and wisdom, the difference between teamwork and relationships. It involves developing discernment,” he says. he would always be my hero.” Discrimination reared its ugly head once again while he searched for a job. “Blacks at the time, unless they were professionals, like doctors or lawyers, were not hired for white-collar jobs. Black guys with college training and advanced degrees worked in the post office or on the railroads as Pullman porters,” he explains. He went to Dr. H.R. Best, superintendent of Cranford Schools, and asked him for a job as a teacher. In the fall of 1949, he was hired as a teacher in the high school’s social studies department. Five years later, he became head of the department, and the next year he got that fateful phone call. His career with Esso was a defining one. “My proudest accomplishment was not a singular effort but one with pluralistic factors that took place during pre-Civil Rights years. By focusing on corporate public imagery and the returnfor eight years. He was also national president of the National Association of Market Developers (NAMD) an alliance of specialists in sales, advertising, marketing and public relations, for three years. He is proud of his involvement as a national vice chairman for the United Negro College Fund annual fund-raising campaigns for three years in the 1960s. “During that time, I helped to raise over $12 million for UNCF colleges and universities. Helping to expand higher educational opportunities,” he says. He chaired the Union County Coordinating Agency for Higher Education for 12 years, from its inception to the end of 1980. The agency’s responsibility was to form a comprehensive community college system. They created Union County College, now considered one of the best community colleges in the nation. Today, education remains a passion, and Avery currently chairs the State Educational Opportunity Fund Board (EOF) and is involved in New Jersey State higher educational agencies through gubernatorial appointments. With an annual budget of more than $35 million, EOF works with New Jersey colleges and universities to provide access and opportunity for educationally and economically disadvantaged students. Education and mentoring go handin-hand. “Mentoring has tremendous significance in today’s world for thousands upon thousands of young people who are disadvantaged educationally and economically. They need good quality role models that seek to uplift them and to give them hope and determination. They need the development of self-worth and self-dignity and to experience the benefits that one gets from achieving goals in life.” STAR ATHLETE An all-star athlete, Avery played football and basketball and ran track in high school. In 1940, Avery made the New Jersey Scholastic Football Honor Roll. Among all high school football players, he was chosen the second-best quarterback in the state and the First Team quarterback for all Group Two schools. Active in high school affairs, Avery was president of his school’s student council in his senior year. He continued his education via an academic scholarship at Columbia College, Columbia University where he continued to turn heads as an athlete. In 1941, when America went to war with Japan and Germany, Avery joined other football teammates to become a member of the Marine Corps, hoping to become officer candidates. The only African-American on the Columbia team, this was one of the first times he experienced prejudice. While his teammates were accepted, he was turned down, based on his flat feet. The next year, he enlisted in the Army and “Mentoring has tremendous significance in today’s world.” served for three years. It was then back to Columbia. He got his Bachelor of Arts degree in June of 1948 and continued with graduate studies to get his Master of Arts degree in education with a minor in history in 1949. “No other honor has ever touched me like the light on my father’s face the day I received my Master’s degree. He came with me, distinguished in his one suit, and so very proud of my accomplishment,” Avery says. “My father was my idol. A gardener and a houseman for people on the wealthier side of town, my father would push his wheelbarrow home every evening, and as I looked at him coming up that street, I knew on-investment, I successfully counseled company management to initiate a broadbased effort to employ minorities in sales and marketing positions, to increase black entrepreneurship in Esso service station dealerships, and to initiate advertising in black magazine and newspaper media.” Avery was extremely involved in the civic affairs of Plainfield, N.J., where he lived. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Union County Psychiatric Clinic, a member of the Adult Evening School Council, and was appointed to the city’s Local Assistance Board, responsible for managing the Welfare Department in the city, and chaired it 30 | Incentive | February 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - February 2008

Incentive Magazine - February 2008 Editor’s Note: Archie and the Boys In The News Cover Story: On The Ball Incentives Incentive Primer: How to Use Sporting Events Incentive Interview: Jim Avery on Doing the Right Thing Employee Empowerment Motivates and Pays Dividends Hospitals, Nurses Win With Flexible Scheduling Legal Ease: Safety Programs and Unions Case Study: The Weitz Company Retains Its Boomers Potentials: Here and Now Star Power in the Kitchen Awards: Gift Card Trends for the New Year Travel News The Manhattanization of Las Vegas Classics Renewed: Monaco and France Advertiser Index Off The Cuff: Tumi’s Mike Landry

Incentive - February 2008

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