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Sunny Tolani’s whole life as an immigrant, entrepreneur and champion of women’s rights has been one long exercise in boldness and as a leopard he too doesn’t change his spots.
Martin Luther King showed Americans the way forward, and his life is a designed testament for positivity and not negativity and bitterness to affect wholesome change and treat everyone with equality.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is a defining moment each year when Americans across the country step up to make our communities more equitable and take action to create the Beloved Community of Dr. King’s dream. While Dr. King, a Devotee of Mahatma Gandhi, believed the Beloved Community was possible, he acknowledged and fought for systemic change. His example is our call to action and to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.
We live in challenging times. Iit is America versus America, Ds versus Rs, Red versus Blue and nowhere have those challenges been more daunting than in society’s efforts to transcend our differences as individuals to better unite as one Community. In the Prince Organization, they are inspired by Dr. King’s encouragement to move forward no matter how challenging the task, like the never-ending pandemic. For CEO Sunny Tolani, he describes the experience as nourishing souls, delivering a poignant reminder that humanity is really one enormous family, united by its common vulnerability to a virus, and the ordeal is affirming a faith that business leaders were the ultimate guardians of human progress. Business entrepreneurs stepped forward with their financial resources, their corporate resources, their employees, and their factories and pivoted rapidly — not for profit, but to save the world.
“The spread of COVID-19 only amplified the Organization’s tremendous spiritual message for us to remember, and this is a tremendous moment for us to come together as one humanity, to serve everybody, and also to express my love to all of those that are going through this horrible time,” shared Tolani. His role has taken on new importance as, after three years of pandemic , we emerge into a new phase.
The Prince Organization hospitality embraces the concept of “family,” a spirit of kinship connecting their staffs together as one family sharing lunches and joining hands for a group blessing ceremony. They support childcare providers and YMCA centers to help their essential employees and communities.
“Employees make time to volunteer and MLK Day of Service is a great way we engage with our local community while honoring the legacy of Dr. King,” Tolani said. “Whether we plan on cleaning up a public space, mentoring and providing internships to young people, mentoring our staff, inviting the local students to tour the back of house hotel operations, what they do makes a world of difference. Our entire organization felt a sense of pride at what we were able to achieve.”
As explained by Tolani, one of the benefits of having multiple generations in the workforce is the opportunity to transfer knowledge in both directions, an effective way to connect varying perspectives is by having empathy and trying ‘reverse mentoring,’ which allows different generations to exchange knowledge, and also allowing returning retirees to mentor the younger staffs can serve as a powerful tool, since these employees have decades of experience to draw upon.
“Good things come with a price and our first priority is always doing the right thing, no matter what,” he shared.
Prince Organization, one of the hospitality industries moost admired companies honors Inspirational African Americans zealously working to build meaningful relations in the communities they operate and by doing so they are able to tap in the passions of millions of guests.
“We take immense pride in our continued support of National Association for the advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as it focuses on history, culture, leadership, business building strong foundations for the youths in the AFRICAN AMERICAN communities and this endeavor lets us celebrate achievements of the community which throughout our country’s history have contributed mightily and made a difference which we all Americans are proud of as their tenacity, will to succeed is unmatched.”
They used their voice as they called for an early national response to the coronavirus pandemic that was informed by existing racial disparities in health care outcomes, access, coverage and services, as well as the disparate impact of COVID-19 on African Americans and other people of color, especially women.
Recognizing the critical importance of quality health care, they have also long advocated for expanded Medicaid eligibility, affordable health insurance options, and investment in community-based health care infrastructure through a strong network of equitably located, well-resourced community health centers.
“We have been pushing for years for legislation barring companies from forcing employees into private arbitration proceedings to address sexual-assaults and harassments in the workplace.” “Every American employee deserves and has a right to report claims in courts regarding sexual, racial discrimination and bad labor practices,” said a company spokeswoman. The organization is weilding influence in so many ways,and is a reminder that we all have the option to use our power for good. Prince Hospitality is Sunny Tolani’s life’s work and he has carved out a place as an exemplar of moral leadership, environmental stewardship and humanitarianism. The organization also aims to abolish the stigma and insecurity that exist for people with cancer in the workplace, providing an open, supportive and recovery-forward culture at work.
