Chairman, Founder and Publisher, Black Enterprise
Earl G. Graves, Sr. is the founder and publisher of black enterprise magazine and a nationally recognized authority on black business development. In 1972, he was named one of the 10 most outstanding minority businessmen in the country by the president of the United States and received the National Award of Excellence in recognition of his achievements in minority business enterprise. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America and was named one of 200 future leaders of the country by Time magazine in 1974.
Today he is chairman of Earl G. Graves Ltd., parent corporation of Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., publisher of black enterprise magazine—a businessservice publication targeted to black professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and policy makers in the public and private sector. The magazine has a paid circulation of 500,000 with a readership of approximately 4 million. The magazine has been a five-time recipient of the FOLIO: Editorial Excellence Award in the business/finance consumer magazine category.
Graves was previously chairman and CEO of Pepsi-Cola of Washington, D.C., L.P., the largest minority-controlled Pepsi-Cola franchise in the United States. In 2005, Pepsi awarded him the Harvey C. Russell Inclusion Award, recognizing him for outstanding achievement in support of PepsiCo’s diversity and inclusion efforts.
Graves is a staunch advocate of higher education and equal opportunity. In recognition of his support of entrepreneurial education and his many years of contributing to his alma mater, Morgan State University, including a $1 million gift to advance business education, the University renamed its school of business and management the Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management.
Graves was an administrative assistant to the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy from 1965 to 1968. After Senator Kennedy’s assassination, Graves formed his own management consulting firm to advise corporations on urban affairs and economic development.
In 2002, Fortune magazine named Graves one of the 50 most powerful and influential African Americans in corporate America. He has held seats on numerous corporate and philanthropic boards. Graves was appointed to serve on a presidential commission for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and was a civilian aide to the secretary of the U.S. Army from 1978 to 1980.
In 2007, Graves was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame, which recognizes the contributions of the nation’s most distinguished corporate professionals who have enriched the economy and inspired young people to pursue excellence in business and in life.
Long active in scouting, Graves is currently a vice president on the National Executive Board and a member of the marketing committee for the national office of the Boy Scouts of America. During the span of his business and professional career, Graves has received numerous awards and honors for his outstanding business leadership and community service. In 1999, Graves received the 84th NAACP Spingarn Medal, the highest achievement award for African Americans, and he was named one of the Top 100 Business News Luminaries of the Century by TJFR, a business journalism publication. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) for his contributions to the field of journalism and the publishing industry. Civil rights activist and founding Black Enterprise Board of Advisors member Julian Bond interviewed Graves for “An Evening with Earl Graves,” a program produced for The HistoryMakers that aired on the PBS network in February 2007.
Graves is a member of the National Black College Hall of Fame. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Morgan State College (now Morgan State University) in Baltimore, Maryland, and has received honorary degrees from more than 65 colleges and universities, including his alma mater.
Graves was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. He authored a book titled How to Succeed in Business Without Being White, in which he talks about his strategies for success. Published by HarperBusiness Publications, the book was released in April 1997 and made the best-seller list in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Graves was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently resides in Westchester County with his wife of more than 50 years, Barbara. Mr. and Mrs. Graves have three sons, all successful professionals who work in the family’s businesses, and eight grandchildren.
