On the death of Alma Powell, wife of the late Secretary of State Colin Powell and chair emeritus of America’s Promise Alliance, First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley released the following statement:
We are filled with sadness and express our deepest condolences to the Powell family on the passing of Alma Powell. Throughout her life, Mrs. Powell was a tremendous advocate and champion for our nation’s children. This included her work as board chair for the America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization founded by Colin Powell to help at-risk children and youth across this country. In that capacity, Mrs. Powell played an instrumental role in helping launch First Focus on Children, which remains a leading bipartisan voice pushing to make children a greater priority in the policy and budget decisions of our nation’s leaders. We will always be grateful to Alma Powell for her leadership, passion, wisdom, and counsel in creating First Focus on Children in 2005 and helping us play a leadership role in this country’s child advocacy.