NEW ORLEANS - The Knights of Peter
Claver Inc. has selected Michael J. Taylor as its seventh Executive Director.
Mr. Taylor is a retired businessman and former board member of the organization.
Taylor has held numerous leadership positions in the organization over the past
twenty years.
As Executive Director, he will oversee day-to-day operations in
the New Orleans headquarters of the century-old Catholic fraternal order. Taylor
brings a wealth of business knowledge and thirty plus years of executive
leadership experience to the organization's national headquarters. Taylor, who
is also a retired Naval Officer, is very active in the New Orleans community. He
possesses a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of the State of New
York, and a Masters of Public Administration Degree from Golden Gate University.
His professional affiliations include Toastmasters International, National
Association of Parliamentarians and Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).
Taylor and his wife, Mable Julien-Taylor, reside in Metairie, LA, and are
members of St. Raymond and St. Leo the Great Parish, in New Orleans. Taylor's
selection is representative of the organization's new vision of progressive
change and increased visibility throughout the nation.
The Knights of Peter Claver, Inc. is the nation's
only African-American Catholic fraternal organization and the world's largest
black Catholic lay organization. The Order was founded on Nov 7, 1909, in
Mobile, for Black men who were barred from other organizations in the Catholic
Church. The organization's membership has since expanded to include the entire
Catholic Church including Bishops and Cardinals from around the world. The Order
is named after St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest from Spain who ministered to
African slaves in Cartagena, Colombia in the 1600s. Peter Claver is said to have
converted over 300,000 slaves to Catholicism.
The Knights of Peter Claver is a
faith based fraternal order with units in over 400 Catholic parishes in the
United States and South America. The Order engages in a variety of national
service projects and is a major supporter of the United Negro College Fund. The
organization recently completed its National Environmental Health and Justice
Literacy Project, a program designed to educate citizens of poor communities
about environmental health hazards. The Knights of Peter Claver is headquartered
in New Orleans and is a member of the worldwide International Alliance of
Catholic Knights.
