Milton J. Little, Jr. became the first African-American president of United Way of Greater Atlanta, the largest in the national system, in July 2007. In March of 2020, Little led the launch – in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta – of the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. To date, the Fund has raised more than $30 million and provided 455 nonprofits across Greater Atlanta with resources they need to help the most vulnerable populations affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Altogether, Little has helped raise more than a billion dollars for local community needs and priorities. Before joining United Way, he served as chief operating officer and interim president and CEO of the National Urban League.
He is a member of many boards and advisory committees. Notable among them are the Center for Assessment and Policy Development, past chair of the Southern Education Foundation, and past vice chair of the board of directors for Ways to Work. He also serves on the Atlanta Speech School Board of Advisors, Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, Georgia’s Children’s Cabinet, and Get Georgia Ready Reading Cabinet. He was selected to serve on MDRC and the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement for the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine.
He graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College with a B.A. in sociology and earned an M.A. in urban sociology and social policy from Columbia University.