Ray White

Background

About Ray White

Oprah Winfrey's "favorite story of all time" told of Tererai Trent's journey from rural poverty in Zimbabwe to earning a doctorate in the U.S, a story that I, with Christine Volkmer and Jennifer Pierce, proposed to the show. I went with a crew to Zimbabwe to do the story and then to the taping in Chicago when Tererai was a guest. We also pitched the story to New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof for a chapter in his book with Cheryl Wu Dunn,"Half the Sky." I was then public relations director at the world hunger organization Heifer International. Before that I was a journalist, newspaper designer and graphics artist. Before retiring I worked at the Arkansas Foodbank, where I suggested a story to "Rock Center," Bryan Williams' NBC magazine show, about Annette Dove, founder of TOPPS, Inc, in Pine Bluff, Ark. Annette feeds after-school meals to 300 kids and helps them escape from the poverty trap. The story was Chelsea Clinton's debut on the show. More recently, Kristof wrote about Annette as an "American Mother Teresa," after I sent him a memo about her success sending at-risk kids to college. I also accompanied Bob Simon of "60 Minutes" and crew to Uganda to assist in doing a story about a young woman who got a college education after her family received a goat from Heifer. For a fuller biography, go here: http://raywhite032046.blogspot.com/ My wife, Judy, and I have two grown children: Douglas, who works in computer technology support for a Little Rock tech company, and Callie, a writer and former newspaper columnist and Communications Director with the Grays Harbor Economic Development Council in Aberdeen, WA. My specialty is identifying newsworthy aspects of non-profit organizations. I can assess an organization to identify stories that will attract media attention, raise awareness and improve an organization's reputation through earned media. I retired from the Foodbank on May 31, 2013, and am available for public relations consulting.