Freedom Fund | NAACP Cleveland Branch

114th Annual Freedom Fund Dinner: Made for the Moment

On July 25, the NAACP Cleveland Branch brought the community together at the Huntington Convention Center for the 114th Annual Freedom Fund Dinner, themed "Made for the Moment." The evening was a powerful celebration of legacy, leadership, and the ongoing fight for equity — anchored by a keynote from Dr. Otis Moss III, who spoke to the power of one person's light to spark generations of change.

The night honored Kevin Clayton, Executive Vice President and Chief Impact and Equity Officer of Rock Entertainment Group/Cleveland Cavaliers, as this year's Corporate Honoree for his steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The President's Award was presented to Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and Edwina Moss, whose decades of service and sacrifice have shaped Cleveland's civil rights legacy and inspired the generations that followed.

Thanks to the generosity of everyone in the room and beyond, the dinner raised over $300,000 toward this year's $400,000 goal — a testament to a community truly made for the moment. But the work doesn't end when the night does. Every dollar raised fuels the NAACP Cleveland Branch's mission of advancing equity and justice year-round, and we're still on the way to reaching our goal.

If you weren't able to give that night, it's not too late — your support today keeps this legacy of light moving forward, one generation to the next. Donate now to help us cross the finish line.

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Sponsorship Details

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Preacher, Activist, and Author.

Trinity United Church of Christ

Let Your Light Shine On A Keynote for the Moment

Dr. Otis Moss III took the stage and reminded the room why we gather each year — not just to celebrate a moment, but to carry a legacy forward. Drawing on the theme of light — the kind passed hand to hand, generation to generation — Rev. Moss spoke to how one person's light, once lit, doesn't stay contained. It sparks. It spreads. It becomes the light that guides the next generation, and the one after that.

His message was a bridge between his father's legacy — the President's Award honoring Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and Edwina Moss — and the work still ahead of us. He challenged the room to see themselves not as spectators of change but as carriers of it: to let their light shine so visibly, so unapologetically, that someone not yet born might one day trace their own path back to it.

It was a fitting close to a night themed "Made for the Moment" — a reminder that the moment isn't just now. It's every generation that gets to inherit the light we choose to pass on.

CORPORATE HONOREE

Executive Vice President and Chief Impact and Equity Officer of Rock Entertainment Group and Cleveland Cavaliers

Leading with Purpose, Driving Equity ForwardAs Executive Vice President and Chief Impact and Equity Officer for Rock Entertainment Group — parent company of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rocket Arena, Cleveland Charge, and Cleveland Monsters — Kevin Clayton has spent nearly two decades turning DEI from a talking point into action. A Cleveland native, he leads with the belief that equity means fixing the systems — hiring, promotions, feedback, compensation — so everyone can do their best work, and that sports can be a genuine platform for social justice.That commitment held firm even as many organizations nationally stepped back from DEI work in recent years — the Cavaliers, under his leadership, did not. Beyond the arena, Clayton serves as Vice Chair of the Greater Cleveland Urban League and sits on the boards of United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Cleveland City Club, extending his impact well into the broader community.

His recognition as Corporate Honoree reflects a career built on the belief that real equity strengthens everyone.

PRESIDENT'S AWARD

Few names carry the weight of history in Cleveland's civil rights story quite like Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and Mrs. Edwina Hudson Moss. A close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and former co-pastor alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Rev. Moss was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement and has been a strong voice for equality, voting rights and community empowerment for decades. His commitment to justice wasn't confined to the pulpit — he has been jailed in Georgia, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. in Civil Rights and Human Rights struggles, a testament to a life spent putting principle into action.

For 33 years, Rev. Moss led Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, building not just a congregation but a legacy of civic investment — including helping establish the Otis Moss Jr. University Hospitals Health Center, offering primary and specialty care to the greater Cleveland community. Alongside him every step of the way has been Edwina Hudson Moss, his partner of a lifetime and a steadfast presence in the movement's history in her own right.

Together, the Mosses represent what the President's Award is meant to honor: not a single achievement, but a lifetime — decades of service, sacrifice, and quiet partnership that helped shape Cleveland's fight for civil rights and laid the groundwork for the generations who continue that work today. It is fitting that their legacy stands alongside this year's theme of light passed down — because few have carried that light, and passed it on, longer than they have.