United Methodist to head Project Equality board
5/12/1998
DAYTON, Ohio (UMNS) - Donald L. Hayashi, a staff executive for the United Methodist General Council on Ministries, has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the 36-member board of Project Equality.
Project Equality, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a national program with a 32-year history of working to change employment practices. It uses the purchasing power of its members to spur suppliers of goods and services to take affirmative employment action.
Twenty-five national not-for-profit and religious organizations, comprising 30 million constituent members, monitor their vendors' employment practices. Project Equality enables members to put their purchasing power where their values are by supporting businesses listed in the organization's annual Buyer's Guide. Staff executive of Project Equality is the Rev. Kirk Perucca, a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Hayashi, 51, has been a member of the General Council on Ministries staff since 1990. He previously was on the staff of the church's California-Nevada Annual Conference.
United Methodists have been very active in Project Equality throughout its history. Hayashi becomes the second United Methodist to chair the organization's board of directors. Holding the position previously was Barbara Ricks Thompson, top staff executive of the churchwide Commission on Religion and Race. The Rev. Raul Alegria, staff member of the churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville, Tenn., is currently on the board. The Rev. Maurice Culver, clergy member of the Kansas East Conference, was chief executive officer of Project Equality for more than 20 years before his retirement.
Hayashi said Project Equality is forming partnerships with corporate members such as Marriott and United Parcel Service and is seeking to work more closely with historic civil rights organizations. "Corporate members, represented on our board, believe that it is important that they be in partnership with not- for-profit and religious organizations," he said. "It's good for business and good for building relationships."
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