Cleveland Clinic Welcomes Keynote Speaker Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. to 24th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Of Celebration

Cleveland Clinic employees and community leaders will join in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, at the InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center, 9801 Carnegie Ave., in Cleveland at the 24th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration.

The Honorable Marcia L. Fudgeof theUnited States House of Representatives will receive the Lifetime of Service Award – Cleveland Clinic’s highest community honor. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr., pastor emeritus of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.

A renowned religious scholar and human rights leader, while at Morehouse College, Rev. Moss became close friends with the King family. As young ministers, Rev. Moss and Martin Luther King Jr. blazed the trail in advocating for non-violent social justice and change in the historic civil rights movement. The recipient of eight honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of awards, Rev. Moss is an author, international lecturer and noted advisor to American presidents.

“Rev. Moss has dedicated his career to advocating for social justice and human rights here in Cleveland and beyond. We honor his commitment to the betterment of our society and are proud to have him with us on this day of remembrance,” said Cleveland Clinic President & CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD.

The program begins at 7 a.m. with an interfaith service delivered by Reverend Courtney Clayton Jenkins, senior pastor of South Euclid United Church of Christ. The community breakfast and program will be held at 7:45 a.m. in the ballroom of the InterContinental, where Rev. Moss will speak and Rep. Fudge will be honored.

Congresswoman Fudge has represented the 11th Congressional District of Ohio since 2008. She serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. Congresswoman Fudge is also a member of several congressional caucuses and immediate past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

For more than two decades, Congresswoman Fudge has served the people of Ohio, beginning with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. She was the first African American and the first female mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, where she led the city in providing new residential construction.

Congresswoman Fudge is the sixth recipient of the award, which was established by Cleveland Clinic to honor and thank a serving leader who has exhibited extraordinary strength of spirit and remarkable efforts in their public service. Rev. Moss was the first recipient in 2011. Other recipients include: the Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, President of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School; the Rev. A. Charles Bowie, pastor of East Mt. Zion Baptist Church; Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson; and in 2015, the late Honorable Louis Stokes, a retired member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cleveland Clinic’s 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration will also include recognition of hospital employees who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the community. Get more information about Cleveland Clinic’s events in our community.