The Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council will honor Dr. Robert Wright with the Blue Legend Award at the 2019 Spirit of Alliance Awards event on Saturday, August 17^th at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta. The Spirit of Alliance Awards, now in its 37^th year, celebrates excellence and achievement in supplier diversity across the state of Georgia, honoring the corporations, small business owners and supplier diversity champions who have set the standard for minority small business development. The GMSDC is the premier small business development and supplier diversity organization in Georgia, having created jobs and economic opportunity across the state since 1975. Dr. Wright, an optometrist and entrepreneurial visionary will join the ranks of distinguished past recipients of the Blue Legend Award, including Atlanta Mayors Maynard Jackson and Kasim Reed, Senator Sam Nunn, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and business icon Herman J. Russell.

The Blue Legend award is the top individual honor at the Spirit of Alliance Awards each year. It is presented to a trailblazer who has demonstrated extraordinary courage, overcome a variety of challenging obstacles and been a dedicated champion of equal opportunity for minority business owners in Georgia and across the nation. The Blue Legend is unique among all of the awards presented at the Spirit of Alliance event – while each of the other awards recognizes outstanding accomplishment for the previous year, the Blue Legend celebrates a lifetime of achievement and exemplary service to the minority small business community.

A native of Columbus, GA, Dr. Wright received a Doctor of Optometry degree from Ohio State University and returned to Columbus to serve his community as an Optometrist. His passion for his community led to his participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Moved by his involvement in 1965’s Selma to Montgomery March and other transcendent events, Dr. Wright shifted his focus to politics, where he served three terms on the Columbus City Council before being appointed to a Federal Minority Small Business Development role by President Ronald Reagan.  Dr. Wright later turned to entrepreneurial ventures, launching two very successful technology startups – Dimensions International, a multimillion-dollar defense contractor and logistics solutions firm, and Flight Explorer, the leading global flight tracking solutions provider.  Dr. Wright chaired the Presidential Commission that spearheaded the National Museum of African American History and Culture and received countless awards for leadership, entrepreneurial excellence, his Civil Rights achievements and his commitment to the community.  He has served on the Boards of Directors of AFLAC and numerous other corporations, organizations and foundations over his more than 40 years in government, business and politics.  

The 2019 Spirit of Alliance Awards will take place on Saturday, August 17^th at the Porsche Experience Center.