W Dwight Raiford

In 2001, New York City's Dwight Raiford became the first African-American to be elected chairman of the Little League Baseball International Board of Directors in the sixty-two-year history of the program. In 1989, Raiford founded New York City's Harlem Little League with his wife, Iris, and has been a strong supporter of Little League Baseball's Urban Initiative. Mr. Raiford, who was first elected to the board in 1994, works as an independent consultant in New York. The Harlem Little League team created a tremendous sense of excitement that ignited the hearts and imagination of New Yorkers in 2002 when it reached the United States semifinals of the Little League World Series after completing pool play with a 2-1 record. The Harlem Little League All-Star team was the fourth team from New York to make it to the Little League World Series. Growing up in a North Carolina mill town, W. Dwight Raiford learned from his father, an insurance agent, that a black man can be successful in business and from his uncle, a janitor, to "be of service to others." Both ideals have guided him through his fifty years, but only recently have they truly come together. "My life is finally aligned," says Raiford with a warm smile and easy laugh. After a successful career in finance—including twenty years at Citibank—he is now using his business skills to help his Harlem neighbors manage their business and personal finances. The catalyst for his second career was the intense satisfaction he encountered when he and his wife founded the Harlem Little League. Starting the league meant finding fields, getting kids and parents interested, and raising money to support the teams. "If we had known what it would take, we never would have done it," says Raiford. "But I'm glad we did." Seven hundred kids currently play in the league, and several others have received college scholarships. A team of league all-stars took sixth place in the 2002 Little League World Series. Raiford, who chairs the national Little League board of directors, stresses, "building big-league citizens, not big-league ballplayers." But winning has its thrills, such as being invited to Wall Street with the team last year. Says Raiford, "After twenty-five years in financial services, how do I get to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange? Baseball." Raiford is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School.