SPOTLIGHT

The T. Boone Pickens Foundation focuses grants to organizations that operate in its core giving categories (see “About TBPF”). This month’s spotlight updates activity at the T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame, housed in the largest mentoring agency in the world, Big Brothers Big Sisters of North & West Central Texas.

On January 19, the Mentoring Hall of Fame welcomed its second inductee, Randall L. Stephenson, during a breakfast ceremony that was part of the America’s Future Series on U.S. Global Competitiveness at the Tower Club Dallas. Stephenson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc.; Pickens; last year’s Mentoring Hall of Fame inductee Don Carty; president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee Bill Lively; and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert were featured speakers at the event, which was simulcast in Houston.

January is National Mentoring Month. Local partners across the country work to leverage the national campaign and recruit and raise awareness for mentoring in their communities. The T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame, dedicated in March 2009, exists to promote the power of mentoring by highlighting people who have gone far and above the call of duty in the field of mentoring. The 3,000-square-foot interactive museum, which examines mentoring and its impact on America, honors those who give of themselves selflessly for the benefit of others.

“During his career, Randall has exemplified the mentoring characteristics the Hall of Fame champions.” Pickens says. “He is well deserving of this honor.”

Stephenson is part of a broad-based group of professionals whose legacy of mentoring will give for generations to come. They are each living examples of the motto: “Mentoring one transforms many.”

The Oklahoma City-born Stephenson began his career in 1982 with Southwestern Bell Telephone in the information technology organization in Oklahoma. He then progressed through a series of leadership positions, including an assignment in Mexico City as SBC International's director of finance, overseeing SBC's ownership interest in Teléfonos de México. In 1996, he was named controller for SBC Communications. Additionally, Stephenson served as senior vice president–Consumer Marketing.

He is a member of the board of directors of Emerson Electric Co., a National Executive Board member of the Boy Scouts of America, and chairman of the BSA's 100th Anniversary Celebration.

During the January event, North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee president and CEO Bill Lively also received the America's Future Series Civic Leadership Award. 

The T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame is located at 450 E John Carpenter Freeway in Irving, Texas. For more information, visit www.mentoringhof.org.  For information on the America’s Future Series, visit www.theamericasfutureseries.org. For more information on National Mentoring Month, visit http://www.massmentors.org/national-mentoring-month#whatnmm.