THE
CHAIRMAN.
​Meet Ambassador Charles R. Stith
The Honorable Charles R. Stith, former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania, is the Executive Chairman of The Pula Group. Prior to forming Pula, Ambassador Stith presented his Letter of Credence as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the United Republic of Tanzania in September 1998. He served as the Ambassador in the traumatic period after the August 1998 bombing of the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam. Because of his able and steady leadership, a more stable Embassy emerged from the bombing. A new standard for U.S. Embassies was set, that of promoting U.S. trade and investment in Africa. He has built a reputation as one who is committed to Africa's growth and development, and whose sage advice is sought by former and current African heads of state.
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He is also the founding Director of the African Presidential Center at Boston University and on the faculty of the BU Department of International Relations. Ambassador Stith is a graduate of Baker University, the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, and Harvard University Divinity School (Th.M). He is the founder and former National President of the Organization for a New Equality (O.N.E.) During his tenure at O.N.E., he helped negotiate and broker the first comprehensive community reinvestment agreement in the country, which committed Boston financial institutions to $500 million in lending to low- and moderate-income and minority communities in Massachusetts. He later served on the CRA Regulatory Agency Working Group, chaired by then Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig. He was one of the architects of the regulations redefining the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which has resulted in nearly $2 trillion in credit and capital for low- and moderate- income communities and communities of color. Prior to heading O.N.E., he was the Senior Minister of the historic Union United Methodist Church in Boston. He was an appointee of then Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He has served on the National Advisory Boards of Fannie Mae and FleetInCity Bank, the editorial board of WCVB-TV, and the boards of West Insurance, Inc. and the Wang Center for Performing Arts, among others. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of South Carolina, Elizabeth City University, Clark Atlanta University, and Baker University.
Ambassador Stith is on the Africa Advisory Committee of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of For Such a Time as This: African Leadership Challenges (APARC Press, 2008) and Political Religion (Abingdon Press, 1995). He is also the Senior Editor of the annual African Leaders State of Africa Report and author of many articles, which have appeared in such publications as the African Business Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Denver Post, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Chicago Sun Times.
