Marvin R. Ellison, Lowe’s chairman, president, and CEO, is the winner of the 2024 Ethical Leader of the Year Award. The award is dedicated to furthering compassionate philanthropy and ethical leadership and was announced by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund (McGowan Fund) in partnership with SHRM.
“It’s an honor to receive this award and represent the 300,000 associates who embody Lowe’s values as they work every day to earn the trust and respect of our customers and communities,” Ellison said. “Our business goals are important to our success, and it’s just as important that we conduct ourselves with integrity and professionalism.”
Ellison was previously chairman and CEO of JCPenney. He is the only Black American to have been CEO of two Fortune 500 companies.
Brian Peckrill, executive director of the McGowan Fund, presented the award during the June 25 general session of the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2024 (SHRM24). The award comes with a $25,000 grant to a nonprofit of Ellison’s choice. 
Ellison “is an extraordinary business leader,” Peckrill said, “who has not only navigated an exceptional nation-spanning company such as Lowe’s to continued financial success, but also lent significant time and energies in serving his employees and greater community.”
He noted Ellison’s determination “to drive higher education, self-empowerment, and academic and professional excellence for minority youth.”
Ellison joins past winners Charles Lowrey, CEO of Prudential Financial, and Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, “in setting an example for the next generation of America’s C-suite to follow,” Peckrill said.
McGowan was an entrepreneur who headed telecommunications giant MCI for 24 years until his death in 1992 at age 64. He launched the campaign that ended AT&T’s monopoly in 1984. The McGowan Fund was established after his death to provide financial support to organizations that reflect the visions, concerns, and life experiences of its benefactor.
The fund distributes grants in three program areas—education, human services, and health care and medical research—with priority given to programs that have demonstrated success, have measurable outcomes, plan for sustainability, and are aimed at ending cycles of poverty and suffering.
The Ethical Leader of the Year Award was created to support and celebrate principled leadership among CEOs in the U.S. whose work is in alignment with the six McGowan Principles: accountability; character and integrity; courage; empathy; resilience; and self-awareness. The selection committee is co-chaired by SHRM President and Chief Executive Officer Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP.
“Cultivating a robust organizational culture hinges on clearly defining, comprehending, and practicing ethics in the workplace,” Taylor said. “It is a true honor to recognize and celebrate Marvin Ellison at our 2024 annual conference, a CEO who grasps and exemplifies the meaning of ethical stewardship.”
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