James T. McLawhorn, Jr. has served as the president and chief executive officer of the Columbia Urban League, Inc. since 1979. Under Mr. McLawhorn’s leadership, the Columbia Urban League, Inc. has been recognized locally and nationally as a pacesetter for its advocacy and programmatic expertise in promoting youth leadership development for disadvantaged and foster care youths, along with its advocacy and leadership efforts in the area of equal opportunity and social justice. Known as the largest non-profit provider of youth career work experience in South Carolina, the Columbia Urban League, Inc. and its leader have received several awards for its youth leadership development programs.  

Mr. McLawhorn is a leading public policy advocate for promoting social justice and equal opportunity. He initiated the acclaimed Columbia Urban League’s publication The State of Black South Carolina: An Action Agenda for the Future.  During the 2010 National Urban League Centennial Conference, the Columbia Urban League, Inc. along with Mr. McLawhorn received the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Leadership Award for Advancing Racial Relations and the National Urban League’s President’s Award for public policy advocacy.     

Mr. McLawhorn serves on several boards, including past chair of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee for Minority Veterans, Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, South Carolina Medicaid Advisory Board, Fort Jackson Equal Opportunity Committee, Keenan School Improvement Council, and others. Also, he was a charter member of the Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center, the Capital City Club, and the State Workforce Investment Board.  

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Order of the Palmetto, the highest award given to a citizen in the state of South Carolina. Additionally, Mr. McLawhorn is an eagle scout and an inductee in the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame. Mr. McLawhorn received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from North Carolina A&T University, master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami at Coral Gables, and an Honorary Doctorate degree from the College of Charleston.   

He and his wife Barbara Campbell McLawhorn are the proud parents of three children and grandparents of five grandchildren.