Black Floridians named to presidential advisory panel

Two people with connections to Florida politics have been named to a federal panel that advises President Joe Biden on African-American issues. 

The White House last week announced 21 names to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. Among them are:

— Vincent Evans, executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Before that, he was Deputy Director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Evans, a Florida A&M grad, started in politics as a page for then-state lawmaker Al Lawson before becoming an aide to Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson and serving on Lawson’s staff when Lawson was a member of Congress representing north Florida. 

— Fedrick "Fed" Ingram, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Ingram also is immediate past president of the 140,000-member Florida Education Association.

“Ingram grew up in inner-city Miami where he attended public schools,” the White House press release said.

He “attended (Florida’s) Bethune-Cookman University on a scholarship and became the first member of his family to earn a postsecondary degree in music education.” In 2006, he was named Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year. 

Another person with a Florida connection is Clarence Nesbitt, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of THINK450, the business, innovation, and partnership engine of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).

Among other schools, “Nesbitt attended Florida A&M University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration,” the press release said.