Page 13 - MLK 2024 Booklet

Wintley Augustus Phipps

US Dream Academy, Inc.

Wintley Augustus Phipps was born in Trinidad, West Indies and raised in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada. He attended Kingsway College, a Christian Academy; Oakwood
College in Huntsville, Alabama where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Theology; and earned a Masters of Divinity Degree from Andrews University in
Berrien Springs, Michigan.
Mr. Phipps is married to the lovely Linda Diane Galloway Phipps (an RN) and they
have been blessed with three fine adult sons: Wintley Augustus, II, Winston Adriel
and Wade Alexander.

Wintley Phipps is a world-renowned vocal artist, pastor, motivational speaker and
education activist. He is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the
U.S. Dream Academy, Inc., a non-profit, national after-school program that provides
mentoring and tutoring around the country to children of incarcerated parents and
children falling behind in school. Founded in 1998, this organization has grown from
one center in Washington D.C . to seven cities across this nation and has served over
10,000 young people living in neighborhoods harmed by high rates of incarceration.
The weekday program offers skill-building, character-building and dream-building
activities in a safe after-school environment utilizing both one-to-one mentoring as
well as state of the art technology to deliver online academic enrichment.
For his work at the U.S. Dream Academy Mr. Phipps has received numerous service awards. Among them: The Excellence in Mentoring for Program
Leadership Award from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership; the Oprah Winfrey Angel Network Use Your Life Award; Promise Hero Award
from America’s Promise; the Philanthropist of the Year Award from The National Center for Black Philanthropy, Inc.; 2019 AARP Purpose Prize; and
the Distinguished Service Award from Loma Linda University. In recognition of his positive global impact through speaking, The National Speakers
Association awarded Wintley the prestigious Master of Influence Award.

Mr. Phipps has been the featured speaker and performer for many notable occasions around the world. In 2021, the family of General Colin Powell
requested Wintley to sing “How Great Thou Art” for the former Secretary of State’s funeral that was held in the Washington National Cathedral. In
2020 on Capitol Hill in the Rotunda, America honored civil rights icon Congressman John Robert Lewis was honored where Wintley served as soloist
sang “Amazing Grace” and “It is Well,”. In 2009 and 2013, Mr. Phipps was privileged to serve as the guest soloist for the Presidential Inaugural Prayer
Service of President Barack Obama at the Washington National Cathedral. In 2007 Mr. Phipps delivered an inspirational address and prayer for the
opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Wintley has sung for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush,
William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush at the annual National Presidential Prayer Breakfast events and other distinguished celebrations. He
met President Nelson Mandela of South Africa; performed for the 2005 inaugural swearing-in ceremony of President George W. Bush and shared the
song “Heal Our Land” composed by Senator Orrin Hatch; the 1984 and 1988 National Democratic Conventions; the Boston Pops; the Congressional
Gold Medal Ceremonies in the White House for Mother Teresa of Calcutta and The Little Rock Nine; the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., TV special; 13th
and 14th annual European Prayer Breakfast in Brussels hosted by the European Parliament; the Salvation Army; the Billy Graham Crusades; the Urban
League; the Vatican where he met Pope John Paul II; the Rosa Parks Birthday Celebration; and Loma Linda University Centennial Celebration. He has
also conducted lectures in Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa and North and South America. Mr. Phipps has performed on Saturday Night Live and been
the special guest on the Emmy award-winning series Super Soul Sunday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Mr. Phipps was nominated for Grammy
Awards in 1988 and 1989. He is the author of “The Power of a Dream” (1996) and “Your Best Destiny” (2015). Phipps has attracted an entire new
generation of fans as his performance of “Amazing Grace” has received over twenty million cumulative viewers on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF_24cQqT0.

39th Annual MLK Day of Celebration • 13