RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER
SEPTEMBER 11, 2025
Robert R. Church, Sr. I Business Leader & Philanthropist
Robert Reed Church, Sr. was born on June 18, 1839 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. From an early age he was known as an achiever and he strengthened the belief of his attributes as he became a businessman, a family man, a philanthropist and a protector and helper of his fellow man. Church began working on the Mississippi River at age 12. He began saving his earnings and looked forward to the time when he would have accumulated enough money to leave the river and enter business in Memphis. The opportunity to fulfill this dream and ambition presented itself after Mr. Church escaped the river during the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862.
Mr. Church had implicit faith in the future of Memphis and established himself in the city. At the close of the Civil War, he was a well known and respected citizen of Memphis. His faith in Memphis was demonstrated many times, but as a result of six disastrous yellow fever epidemics, Memphis lost its Charter in 1879. Church was the first person to buy a bond to help pay the city debt. His $1,000 purchase of bond number 1 helped pave the way for Memphis to recover and restore the city charter in 1893. Church later opened Church’s Hotel at Second and Gayoso. “The only first-class hotel in the city.” He built a park and auditorium on Beale Street near Fourth & Turley. In directing the idea and construction of the facility, he had the only business venture of its kind in America; built, owned and managed by Church.
The first black millionaire in the city, Church was one of the founders and the first president of the Solvent Bank and Trust Company, the first Black bank to be organized in Memphis. In 1880, when the Beale Street Baptist Church, the oldest Black Baptist church in Memphis, fell on hard times, Mr. Church and Solvent Savings Bank stepped in and helped the members and trustees save the church. Robert Reed Church Sr. died in Memphis, the town he loved and helped sustain, on August 29, 1912 at age 73. The Colored American, a publication from Washington, D.C., on February 16, 1901 wrote in part of Mr. Church: “He was a self-made man in the broadest sense of the term. Had no opportunity of the schools; he had no nucleus for wealth left to him by an ancestor, but with nothing but his hands, he made his way to success over every possible obstacle.”
The MMBC Continuum
Robert R. Church, Sr. Achievement Awards Gala
September 11, 2025
PROGRAM
Cocktail Hour | 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm
PROGRAM | 6:30 pm
Welcome
Jozelle Luster Booker, President & CEO
MMBC Continuum
AWARD PRESENTATIONS
Great Beginnings Award
Rising Star Award
Economic Engagement (E 2) Award
Operational Excellence & Resilience Award
Strategic Growth Award
Vanguard Business of the Year Award
Advocate of the Year Award
Chairman’s Award
Corporation of the Year Awar
Closing Remarks
Jozelle Luster Booker
Networking & Dancing
ROBERT R. CHURCH, SR. ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
2025 ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS NOMINEES
CORPORATION OF THE YEAR
AutoZone
Baptist Memorial Health Care FedEx Flintco, LLC
Grinder, Taber & Grinder
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division
Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
Regional One Health
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Tennessee Valley Authority
Turner Construction Company
RISING STAR
Romanethia Green
Brent Hooks
Jeffery D. Johnson
Yumeika Lucas-Myers
Trey Moore
Eileen Peterson
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR JUDGES
CRC JUDGES COMMITTEE
TaShay Yates
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division
Stacy Harris MSCAA
Eboni Eaton
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division
Khalif Johnson
Turner Construction Company
Rosalyn Rogers
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division
Dan Keevy EDGE
Victoria Alvarez MSCAA
Aline Cotton
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division
(*Categories judged: Great Beginnings, Rising Star, Economic Engagement (E 2), Operational Excellence & Resilience, Strategic Growth, and Vanguard Business of the Year Awards)
SPECIAL THANKS
Isaac Singleton – Photography
Vescent Design – Graphic Design Services
Spotlight Productions – Video & Editing Services
DJ – Matthew Ferguson “DJ Ferg”
THE MMBC CONTINUUM 2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jozelle Luster Booker President & CEO MMBC Continuum
Larry Fogarty Vice President, Supply Chain Management Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
Tammy LoCascio SEVP, Chief Operating Officer First Horizon
Doug McGowen President & CE Memphis Light, Gas & Water
David McKinney VP, Government, Public & Community Relations, Customer Satisfaction AutoZone
Keith Norman Vice President of Government Relations Baptist Memorial Health Care Board Chairman
Leticia Towns Sr. Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Regional One Health
Justin Troy Director, Sourcing/Sourcing & Procurement FedEx
John Webb Market President, Tri-South Region CIGNA Healthcare of Tennessee, Inc.
Laurel Williams, Esq. Burch Porter & Johnson
MMBC CONTINUUM STAFF
Jozelle Luster Booker President & CEO
Natalie Robinson Vice President and Director of Communications & Marketing
Melba Chester Director of Core Development and MMC-TADP, Inc.
Lawrence Browder, Jr. Project Director
Lashonda McBride Director, Member Registration
Brittney Elkins Program Manager
Doris Batchelor Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
Brittney Gaines Senior Project Assistant
Capryka Hunt Administrative Program Assistant
ROBERT R. CHURCH, SR. ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
2024 ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS WINNERS
