Ralph B. Everett, Esq.

Ralph B. Everett, Esq.
Director

Since January 2007, Mr. Everett has served as President and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, widely acknowledged as the nation’s leading think tank for policy analysis and research on issues of concern to African Americans and other people of color. Since his appointment to that position, he has led an effort to expand the organization’s research and influence into key policy areas, which has resulted in the establishment of two new centers of excellence– the Joint Center Media and Technology Institute and the Civic Engagement and Governance Institute – as well an Energy and Environment Program. From 1989 through 2006, Mr. Everett was a partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, a leading international law firm with offices throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. He was the first African American partner at Paul Hastings and during his 17-year tenure specialized in telecommunications and transportation policy. He served as Managing Partner of the Washington office from 1993 until 1996 and was also Co-Chair of the firm’s Federal Legislative Practice Group and a Policy Committee member. Mr. Everett has a 34-year track record of pioneering leadership in the nation’s capital. He served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1987 to 1989. There, he played a pivotal role in cable, broadcast and common carrier legislative reforms, as well as regulatory reform of the airline, truck, railway and bus industries. Prior to assuming the role of Chief Counsel of the full Committee, he served as Democratic Staff Director and Minority Chief Counsel from 1982 to 1986 and as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Ernest Hollings from 1977 to 1982. In 1998, President Clinton appointed Mr. Everett as U.S. Ambassador to the International Telecommunication Union’s Plenipotentiary Conference. That year, he also was chosen to lead the U.S. Delegation to the Second World Telecommunication Development Conference in Malta, joining participants from more than 190 nations. In Malta, he was elected Vice Chairman of the world proceedings.

In 2008, Mr. Everett was a team leader for the Obama-Biden Transition Project Agency Review Working Group responsible for overseeing the Department of Commerce. Mr. Everett currently serves on the AT&T Consumer Advisory Panel, is Co-Chair of the Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change and is a member of the Economic Club of Washington, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He has served on the Duke University Law School’s Board of Visitors since 1994. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Board for Independent Sector, as a Director of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and, since 1998, as a Director of Cumulus Media Inc.

Mr. Everett’s community service has included six years on the National Urban League Board and over a decade on the Board of the Center for National Policy, where he was Secretary. He has served on the President’s Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and as Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Waste Management Board. He also chaired the Board of Trustees of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the oldest African American Baptist Churches in the United States. A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Mr. Everett graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College in 1973 and received his law degree from Duke University Law School in 1976. At Duke University, he held the honor of being named Earl Warren Legal Scholar. He is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina Bars as well as a member of the Supreme Court Bar. Ebony magazine has named Mr. Everett one of the nation’s “150 Most Influential African Americans.”

Mr. Everett was nominated to serve on our Board of Directors based on his extensive experience in dealing with regulated industries both in the context of legislative initiatives in the public sector and in advising and leading companies in the private sector in dealing with legal issues before the legislative and administrative branches of government. Mr. Everett also has had extensive experience in advising companies on an array of business issues both as an attorney advisor, executive and member of the board of directors of numerous companies and organizations. Mr. Everett’s familiarity with the legislative and regulatory processes at the Federal government level, his educational training and his diverse business background were viewed by our Board of Directors as being valuable in dealing with the type of regulatory issues that our company encounters on a regular basis and, particularly, as we continue to transition and focus our efforts on the development and sale of nutraceutical dietary supplements and potentially pharmaceutical products.