班F. Leflore

His professional career expands 36 years with the United States Department of Agriculture Soil and Conservation Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). He was the second African American professional hired as a full-time NRCS employee hired in West Virginia working through the local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) in West Virginia, 科罗拉多和密苏里. He crafted his skills and provided outstanding technical service to farmers, 农场主, and units of government before moving into management.

Under his leadership local SWCD became heavily involved in outreach programs and customer service in both farming community and urban population. He partnered with eight-eighty (88) municipalities in St. 路易 County and the city of St. 路易. He conducted conservation education classes and workshops to 26 public schools, plus 10 private schools and homeowners in the St. 路易地区. He was actively involved in providing leadership to farmers, 农场主 and unit of governments through local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) in West Virginia, 科罗拉多和密苏里 before moving on to regional and national levels. He later became one of twenty-three USDA-NRCS employees selected as Equal Employment Opportunity Counselors to address agency wide complaints. He developed and conducted EEO/Civil Rights Training that resulted in a fifty percent reduction in employee complaints.

Bennie made a big impact as a USDA-NRCS Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Counselor where he addressed complaints, settling over 95 percent of the complaints in the informal stage at the local level before becoming a full-time USDA-NRCS Regional Civil Rights Manager in 1995. Mr. Leflore was responsible for overseeing Title VI and Title VII programs compliance and complaints as well as EEO complaints in the Northern Plains Region including Nebraska, 堪萨斯, 科罗拉多州, 怀俄明, 蒙大拿, 北达科他州和南达科他州. He was also responsible for ensuring and achieving equity in services to Women and minority farmers and 农场主.

In conjunction with his USDA-NRCS career, Bennie served 24 years in the US Army Reserves, retiring as a Master Sergeant (E-8). Since retiring from his Military and USDA duties, Bennie has been very active in the Memphis pg电子下载 校友 Chapter, where he currently serves as Chaplain and pg电子游戏试玩 National 校友 Foundation. He supports the chapter and annual contributor to the pg电子游戏试玩 Foundation. 另外, he is an Affiliate Broker Licensed in Tennessee and Mississippi with Crye-Leike Realtors.

He has received numerous awards for his dedication and support in his professional and community life: charter and lifetime member of the National Organization of Professional Black Natural Resources Conservation Service employees (NOPBNRCSE), pg电子游戏试玩 校友 Foundation Captain Award, USDA-NRCS Civil Rights Division Award, USDA-Soil Conservation Service Award, 布坎南县SWCD奖, St. 路易斯SWCD奖, USDA-NRCS Project Leadership Award, 美国农业部- nrcs指导奖, NRCS Certification of Appreciation, The National Organization of Professional Black Natural Resources Conservation Service Employees (NOPBNRCSE) Certification of Life Membership, Twenty-Five Years and Thirty-Five Years of Government Service Award, Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding dedication, support and leadership in the USDA­ NRCS US Army Reserves and Real Estate, 美国农业部-美国自然科学研究中心表彰奖, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Lifetime Membership Award, 欧米伽·普赛·菲兄弟会公司. 服务五十年, 美国农业部认证奖, Applied Technology 服务 Award, and Outstanding Young Men of America.

He is married to Estella McMillian Leflore ‘70 and they have two children: Benjamin and Byron. They reside in Bartlett, Tennessee.