Melanie Littlejohn had just finished speaking during an event last year at the Marriott Downtown Syracuse when she stepped onto an elevator and saw Barbara Karper, a longtime friend and associate provost for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging at Le Moyne College.
Karper had a question: Would Littlejohn be interested in being the speaker for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, which will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Panasci Family Chapel? Littlejohn couldn’t believe it. She said it was such an honor she was surprised to be asked. “He’s a giant in my eyes,” she said of King, whom she described as a “humanitarian and a regular person” who “lives in all of us.”
She serves as chief executive and president of the Central New York Community Foundation, which identifies the biggest problem areas facing greater Syracuse and the region around it, and then provides money and resources toward addressing those issues.
Littlejohn has held that position for not quite a year. Before that, she was a longtime executive and administrator for National Grid, the utilities company, and before that for its predecessor, Niagara Mohawk. Thinking of Dr. King and the trajectory of her business career, Littlejohn said of her own journey as an African-American: “He gave his life so I can be in the position I’m in.”
Asked about what motivates her every day, she connected it to what she said will be one of the themes of her speech, especially for students: “When you see me, I want you to see you.”
The title of her speech is “Love, the new superpower.” She said the central idea will be how “love is foundational to changing the world.”
Karper has coordinated the King convocation for about 30 years. While she sees all of those events as important, she said she finds particular meaning in the choice of this year’s speaker. Littlejohn will be only the third woman that Karper remembers giving the speech during that time.

“It’s very special to me on several levels,” Karper said. She has always admired Littlejohn, she said, because of the integrity with which she handles her position in Syracuse. She also considers Littlejohn a good friend. “We can talk about anything,” Karper said.
In September, Karper and Littlejohn met at Phoebe’s – a Syracuse restaurant – to discuss the speech. Littlejohn said she was going to focus on love and that she would make it applicable to college students – but she said the way she approached it might hinge on what happened after the presidential election.
Because of that, Karper isn’t sure of exactly what Littlejohn will say – though Littlejohn offered some insights on her plans, in an interview.
She said the speech is coming at an important moment in the history of the country. The new Trump administration is rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the federal government, arguing that those efforts are unfair.
“I’m angry,” said Littlejohn, of those decisions. “I’m angry when it’s a moment that we as human beings are pitted against each other. We’ve created a bogeyman,” she said of DEI, which she said is being falsely made into an American scapegoat.
Littlejohn said she will be delivering this speech at a pivotal time, and she has one major imperative: “I want to inspire goodness,” she said of her hopes for her address.
Reviewing her own experience, she said, “My life has to be a testament to giving back.” After 30 years at National Grid, she retired. It didn’t last long. Littlejohn, on the urging of multiple people from the community, decided to successfully submit her name for consideration to the Community Foundation for its top position.

She was born in Jamaica, Queens. In her Community Foundation biography, she mentions how she was the oldest of 25 children – because her parents also raised her biological brother and 24 foster sisters.
As Karper says, Littlejohn embraced powerful dedication to the community, and she emphasized her hope that Wednesday’s speech will inspire passion in young people at Le Moyne.
“I want goodness to take hold,” Littlejohn said.
This story was written by a Communications 374-01 journalism class: Taylor Bonner, Aliyah Brown, Ashley Carter, Lily Christopher, Grace Crooks, Richard Dann, Dzenan Hozo, Kenan Hozo, Andrew Janowski, Sydney Laniak, Michael Leahy, Branwyn Lupton, Sophia Melone, Delaina Palmatier, Jordan Roy, Declan Sommer, Marialicia Vick, Lucy Webb and Erica Wu.