About APPEAL

APPEAL History

APPEAL, Inc. was incorporated in October 2012, in Washington, D.C. Its primary Founder is Lasana K. Mack (former D.C. Treasurer), who led the effort to conceptualize and structure APPEAL, but there was also a team of people affiliated with a coalition of Pan-Africanist organizations in the DC metropolitan area that provided input and support for the effort from the beginning. Those people are among APPEAL’s 58 Founding Members. Legal research and support for the structuring of APPEAL was provided by the Community Development Law Clinic of the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law, with a team of law students under the supervision of Professor Kemit Mawakana, Esq.

Mr. Mack identified skilled and accomplished individuals, including persons with expertise in the fields of Finance and Education, to serve on APPEAL’s Board of Directors, and the Board was officially established in November 2012. Shortly thereafter, Executive Officers were appointed and four Committees, each with a Committee Chairperson, were established in order to organize and carry out APPEAL’s various program activities. Over the next several months, under the direction of the Board of Directors, the Officers and Committees performed the work necessary to publicly launch APPEAL on May 19, 2013.

APPEAL: Definition and Mission

APPEAL, Inc. is a non-profit organization facilitating economic empowerment and educational enrichment through workshops, a think tank, a resource bank, and the development of a full-service financial institution focused on serving communities of people of African descent, locally, nationally and internationally.

APPEAL is an acronym for:
Association of
People for
Pan-Africanist
Economic Advancement thru
Leverage

What is Pan-Africanist Economic Advancement thru Leverage?

  • Pan-Africanism is a concept that represents the perspective that people of African descent in America, Africa and around the world represent a broad ethnic group and extended family with a common African-based heritage, and that it is important for this extended family to take certain unified and collective actions to improve our plight in our communities locally, nationally and internationally in terms of economic, political, social, cultural and educational status and conditions.
  • Leverage is a physics term and a finance term that conveys utilizing a pivotal device, utilizing a strategic advantage, or utilizing credit strategically in order to produce favorable or enhanced outcomes.

APPEAL’s Mission is to organize and strategically utilize the vast resources of people of African descent, locally, nationally and globally, to facilitate economic empowerment and educational enrichment to produce strong, self-sufficient and prosperous communities.


Notable Members

The following is a list of APPEAL members who are notable based on their work and accomplishments that have earned them respect and acclaim among relatively large numbers of people. All of these individuals have done and are doing work that is essentially consistent with the mission of APPEAL, and their membership in APPEAL means that that they support our endeavor and have become a part of it. We want you to join them as APPEAL members!

  • Anthony T. Browder (Historian/Author/Educator)
  • Ayanna Gregory (Vocalist/Performing Artist)
  • Nkechi Taifa, Esq. (Attorney/Activist)
  • Dr. Bernida Thompson (Educator)