Inspiring Conversations: Leading People in an Ever-Changing World – Louis King II, Chief Executive Officer, Summit Academy OIC

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Featured Speakers: 

  • Louis J. King II, President and CEO, Summit Academy OIC
  • Tom Schreier, Co-Founding Director, Inspired Leadership Initiative

The Inspiring Conversations Series featured a discussion about the black community and the importance of the middle class with guest speaker Louis King II,  the President & Chief Executive Officer of Summit Academy. This virtual event was led by Tom Schreier, Founding Director of the Inspired Leadership Initiative. Through this discussion, King demonstrated the importance of recognizing the past, making time for change, and recognizing the power of the black community’s history.

In the beginning of the conversation, King described himself as a “poor country boy just trying to make it in the world.” He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida in the housing projects, attending an all-black high school of two thousand kids. At college, he discovered the black middle class, who introduced him to their value system; this is how King changed from a poverty mindset to that of a middle class. From there, he was a professional soldier for ten years, travelled around the world, and taught ROTC. 

In the first part of the discussion, King addressed the question: What is the future need for equality? In order to explain his answer, King explained the African-American journey in this country; they got here in 1619 and were emancipated in 1865. However, after these 245 years of “stolen labor” came Reconstruction, the Great Migration, then voting rights and segregation. This process took years, and it is still far from over. Change takes time. King explained, “The things that you see occurring today, we should view them more the beginning than the end.” Through this mindset, King voiced his excitement to build institutions and relationships that will carry into the future. 

In the second part of the discussion, he addressed the next question: Why is it necessary to have a strong middle class? King explained that it is necessary to have a middle class in order for progress to be made. If a middle class did not exist, there would be a continuous cycle of, what King calls, the “misery management machine” (Everyone, including police, courts, nonprofits, etc., make money off of the poor people in this country). In rebuttal to the statement “Everyone is the middle class,” King said that this is inaccurate, further emphasizing how “we don’t like to acknowledge that there are poor people in this country,” which is a source of suppression for the black community. As for people today, King called them to work to ensure that people have the education, skills, and the social network needed to enter the middle class.

In the third part of the discussion, King explained the final question: How do you lead in times of trouble? Discussing the covid pandemic, King referenced the term NBC (nuclear biological chemical) from the Cold War, which was seen as both a public health issue and an economic issue. Like NBC, the pandemic is both. Everyone must take protective measures. Discussing the social unrest, King called his audience to recognize a couple of things: First, American society has created “ghettos,” which is the emergence of drug culture and violence. Why is this important? The formation of ghettos gave white America (more specifically, the police) the license to treat all black people like criminals. King explained that events like the murder of George Floyd occur everyday; his was just in the presence of many cell phones. Second, King emphasized that he never convinces people to join him, for he wants seekers who want to be a part of the victory.

King is the CEO of Summit Academy OIC, an institution that aims to provide skill training and job opportunities for people who need it. King explained how, at Summit Academy, he worked to change lives, fostering the development of individuals to take their role in the community. At Summit Academy, the fundamental belief is that “the best social service program in the world is a job.” There are twenty-week training programs, immersion processes, partnerships with businesses. He described it as the “Disney World of Opportunity”. Over time, your education and relationships will help you enter the middle class and improve your livelihood.

In the Q&A portion of the virtual event, King touched on several subjects, including how to break the misery management cycle, which is the cycle in which everyone (nonprofits, counties, police, etc.) makes money on poor people. He explained that the moment when he can tell an individual where to receive a job or more skills instead of the location of a homeless shelter, that is the end of the misery management machine. At the end of the discussion, King called all Americans to discard any preconceived notions on what it means to be African-American.

Visit the event page for more.


  • Just like the slave that realized slavery would not end in his lifetime, but still ran away, or the man who understood he would never vote, but still tried, we may not see the end of this economic apartheid, but we should still build the institutions necessary to take it down eventually. (13:18)
  • It is necessary to have a middle class in order for progress to be made. If a middle class did not exist, there would be a continuous cycle of, what King calls, the “misery management machine” (Everyone, including police, courts, nonprofits, etc., make money off of the poor people in this country). (16:37)
  • Events like the murder of George Floyd happen everyday. This one just happened to be in front of cell phones. (23:19) 
  • The end of the misery management machine will occur when, instead of telling someone where the homeless shelter is located, you are telling them where to find a job or gain the skills needed for a career. (41:30)
  • Ask yourselves: Do you really believe that God made all of us equal? Do you really believe that? After reflecting on these questions, that is when you choose to do what you feel is right. (52:49)

  • “We’re sitting here now, with our remote controls and microwaves and internet, and the attention span of a gnat, and we typically want things to happen right now, in this new cycle. That’s not how things occur. It does take time.” (12:05, Louis King II)
  • “Now, the thing that is affecting black folks, after the bondage and stolen labor, after the voter suppression, is economics.” (17:20, Louis King II)
  • “I don’t need everybody. I don’t try to convince people to join me. I’m looking for seekers. I’m looking for people who want to be part of the victory that is certain if you look at history.” (25:13, Louis King II)
  • “Our responsibility is to build relationships and institutions that take the fight into the future.” (25:35, Louis King II)
  • “The misery management machine, if you will, is the modern day plantation…It lives because of the deprivation of opportunity. The way to fight is to provide opportunity. That’s it.” (40:20, Louis King II)
  • “Take back the black. Redefine what it means to be African-American. We are not some tatted-up gangsters out there doing that thing. We are family people. We are American citizens. We want to work like everybody else.” (55:47, Louis King II)