LANSING, MI – Epsilon Tau Sigma Chapter, the Lansing graduate chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., invites area residents to attend the Chapter’s annual Founders’ Day program on Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 5:00 PM, at Faith Fellowship Baptist Church, 1001 Dakin. The theme of the program is Education — The Stabilizing Force for a Better Future, and the keynote speaker will be Robert C. Bobb, Emergency Financial Director of the Detroit public school system.
Bobb is the owner, President and CEO of the LAPA Group, LLC, a multi-faceted private/public sector consulting firm. Bobb has more than 30 years of executive management experience in both the private and public sectors. In 2009 Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Bobb as Emergency Financial Director for the Detroit public school system. In that position Bobb has full financial authority for the school district.
Bobb is the former City Administrator and Deputy Mayor for Washington, D.C. and served as the District of Columbia’s Homeland Security Advisor. He has served as the City Manager of Oakland, California and Executive Director of the Oakland Redevelopment Agency, City Manager of Richmond, Virginia, City Manager of Santa Ana, California, and City Manager of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Mr. Bobb has the distinction of being the longest serving African-American city manager in the nation. He is an expert on education, economic development, community and neighborhood development, municipal budgeting and finances, contract negotiations, public/private partnerships of sports franchises, libraries and recreation facilities, and social problems such as crime and grime.
Bobb received a baccalaureate degree from Grambling State University and a master’s degree from Western Michigan University. He also completed the certificate program for Senior Executives in State and Local Governments from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is the recipient of numerous awards. In September 1993, City & State Magazine, a periodical for city and state government officials, named Robert Bobb as the “Most Valuable Public Official” among professional managers of the country’s local governments. Despite his busy schedule, Bobb finds time to mentor urban youth and young professionals. Under his direction, several successful outreach programs were designed and administered to foster urban youth in civic responsibility, educational achievement, and competitiveness in the employment market. Notably, more than 19 of Mr. Bobb’s former assistants have advanced to make their own contribution as city managers, county executives, public safety directors, head of a public utility, deputy mayor and assistant city managers.
Robert Bobb is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
Epsilon Tau Sigma Chapter, chartered in 1975, has more than 40 active members and a chapter motto of “Men of Character Doing Good Deeds.” The members serve in various leadership capacities in elective positions and in civic and community organizations and contribute to improving the quality of life for residents in the Greater Lansing area through programs and services provided by the chapter or though participation in community service projects. Members of the chapter have served as mentors in the Lansing School District since 1990 and are currently providing after-school mentor services at Riddle Elementary School. The chapter, in conjunction with the Epsilon Tau Sigma Chapter Education Fund, a 501(c) (3) organization, sponsors an annual youth workshop for high school students. Other service programs or projects which the chapter co-sponsors or in which chapter members participate include highway cleanup, prostate cancer screening and awareness, March of Dimes, Junior Achievement, YMCA Achievers Program, take a kid Christmas shopping (in conjunction with Black Men Incorporated of Greater Lansing), and the Juvenile Diabetes walk.
For more information, contact Rev. Stan Parker at 517-853-9897 or 517-853-0414 or Robert Proctor at 517-321-3021.
