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 Johnny
McDuffy Mickler, Sr.
President & CEO
Going far beyond the call of duty, doing more than
others expect...that is what Johnny McDuffy Mickler, Sr. is all
about. A staunch supporter of public education and upward mobility
for minorities in the workplace, the former President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Urban League of Greater Madison, Inc.,
assumed his new duties as the President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Greater Toledo Urban League, Inc. on August 1, 1997.
The oldest of four children born to Rachel Elizabeth and the late
John Jerry Mickler, Johnny was born in Seneca, South Carolina on
November 27, 1951. When Johnny was six months old, he and his mother
left Oconee County to reunite with his father, a career Air Force
enlisted man stationed in Merced, California. The Mickler family
lived in California for approximately eight years before deciding
to move back home to South Carolina.
Seneca (South Carolina) did not offer many opportunities for a young
African American couple in 1959;so each day, John Jerry Mickler
commuted 100 miles (round trip) to work at Donaldson Air Force Base
in Greenville, SC. In 1961, the Micklers relocated permanently to
Greenville, SC to be closer to Rachel’s family and the more
advanced opportunities available in the growing metropolitan area.
Johnny McDuffy Mickler, Sr. attended public school in The School
District of Greenville County, the largest school system in SC,
from 1961 to 1969. He holds three degrees from Greenville Technical
College (Accounting, Marketing and Management) and a Bachelor of
Science degree (Management) from Limestone College in Gaffney, South
Carolina. He has also garnered several hours toward a Master of
Science degree in Human Resource Development from Clemson University.
Employed with the Greenville Urban League from 1987 to 1992, Mr.
Mickler served in many capacities --- Associate Director of Employment/Economic
Development; Vice President/Chief Operating Officer; and then Interim
President/Chief Executive Officer.
Before joining the Urban League Movement, Mr. Mickler worked for
16 years with CRS Sirrine (formerly J. E. Sirrine), an architectural/engineering
design company, which previously was listed in Engineering News
Record as #1 in the World in the design of pulp and paper mills.
Mr. Mickler held may positions while employed with CRS Sirrine and
at his departure had bootstrapped his way to the realm of Cost Analyst
I., a position that put him in charge of maintaining the costs on
numerous multi-million dollar construction projects.
Johnny McDuffy Mickler, Sr., has shared his
time and talents with many civic groups
and boards in the past. They were:
The Downtown Madison Rotary Club, Downtown Madison Kiwanis International,
United Way Foundation/Allocation Committee Member, Partners in Prevention/Cultural
Diversity Committee, Board Member – Madison Repertory Theater,
Madison Branch of NAACP, South Madison Education Coalition, West
End Study Committee (Madison Metro School District), MANN Foundation
Advisory Board Member – Allied Drive Community for Excellence
(ACE), Board Member – Urban Space Foundation, Member of Superintendent’s
Human Relations Advisory Council (MMSD), Member of 100 Black Men
of Madison, Chair-Education Committee – Ethnic Roundtable,
urban Open Space Foundation, Inc., The Teen Pregnancy Council, the
S. C. Black Family Summit Planning Committee, the S. C. Department
of Social Services - Work Support Group, the Greenville County Jaycees,
the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce Minority Employment Steering
Committee, Greenville’s Child Board, Habitat for Humanity,
the Piedmont Center for Mental Health Advisory Board, the State
Human Health Services Finance Commission/Adult Oversight Committee,
the Metropolitan Arts Council Board, the S. C. Department of Education
Coordinating Council Board, Leadership Greenville -- Class XVI,
the Greenville Urban League -- School District of Greenville County
Mentorship Program, the Fine Arts Center Advisory Board, the Upstate
Piedmont -- United Negro College Advisory Board, Greenville Families
in Action Board, and the Benjamin Bannecker Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation
Board.
Today Johnny is a member of the following boards and/or
committees. They are:
•
Board of Trustees/Medical College of Ohio Foundation
• Member
of Downtown Toledo Rotary Club
• Member
of NAACP (Toledo Branch)
• Chair/Toledo
Public Schools Affirmative Action Committee (past)
• Member/Toledo
Public Schools Human Resource Committee (past)
• Member
of Ohio Council of Urban Leagues, Inc.
• Advisory
Board/Area Office on Aging of Northwestern, Ohio, Inc.
• Trustee/Northwest
Black Chamber of Commerce
• Board
Member/Corporation for Effective Government
• Board
Member/Toledo Excel and Prep./Tech.
• Board
Member/Owens Community College Foundation
• Inducted
into the Sigma Pi Phi, Alpha Phi Boule (first of the African-American
Greek-Letter Fraternities)
Several notable achievements of Johnny and
The Greater Toledo Urban League, Inc., include:
•
In 1997 – One site, two staff persons (Johnny
& Agreta Hester), and a budget of less than $180,000.00
By 2005– Three sites,
16 positions, and a budget of one million dollars.
•
G.T.U.L. assumed management of the J. Frank Troy Senior
Center, increasing activities and participation for area senior
citizens by 150 percent.
• Employment
– Agency placed over 800 people in unsubsidized employment,
resulting in an economic impact
of more than twelve million
dollars in annual earnings.
• Played
a major role in addressing the needs and implementing policy changes
in the Toledo Public School System,
as it applies to teacher recruitment/retention
and policies in Teacher Peer Review practices.
• Played
a major role in securing State of Ohio contracts to be granted to
minority contractors.
Johnny is a long-time member
of Springfield Baptist Church, the oldest African American church
in Greenville, SC.
He is married to Tamara Thompson-Mickler,
a freelance journalist and PR Specialist. They have two sons: Johnny
Jr., 36, and 10-year-old Caleb
Alexander.
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