Biography

SANFORD CLOUD, JR., is the Chairman and CEO of The Cloud Company, LLC, a real estate development and business investment firm. He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of The National Conference for Community and Justice, a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America and promoting understanding among all races, religions and cultures. Mr. Cloud also helped found National Voices for an inclusive 21st Century, a collaboration of national human relations and civil rights organizations that work together to confront bias, bigotry and racism. Internationally, Mr. Cloud represented NCCJ as a member of President Carter’s delegation to oversee the first Palestinian elections in Jerusalem. Mr. Cloud currently serves on the Board of Directors of Northeast Utilities, and is its Lead Director; The Phoenix Companies, Inc.; Ironwood Mezzanine Fund LP; the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center; The University of Connecticut Health Center, and is Chairman of the Board; The Fund for Greater Hartford; and The Connecticut Health Foundation , and is Chairman of the Board. Before coming to NCCJ, Mr. Cloud was a partner in the law firm of Robinson & Cole in Hartford, Connecticut. Through much of the 1980s, he worked for Aetna Inc. as Vice President, Corporate Public Involvement and Executive Director of the Aetna Foundation. As Chair of the company’s Corporate Responsibility Investment Committee, he directed Aetna’s socially responsible investments. Active in a range of philanthropic leadership organizations, Mr. Cloud served as Vice Chairperson and Board member of the Independent Sector, a national coalition of foundations, corporations, and voluntary organizations, and led its Task Force on Accountability and Effectiveness of the Nonprofit Sector. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foundations. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hartford Seminary and a member of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Minorities. Additionally, he served as an advisor of the Kellogg Foundation National Fellowship Program and was Chairman of the board of The Children’s Fund. A former 2-term Connecticut State Senator, Mr. Cloud’s accomplishments included primary sponsorship of legislation creating the State’s first Department of Housing. He also served as Chairman of the Planning and Development Committee and was a member of the Appropriations and Judiciary Committees. Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Cloud is a 1966 graduate of Howard University’s College of Liberal Arts and a 1969 graduate of the Howard University Law School. In 1992, he received an M.A. in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary. Mr. Cloud’s honorary degrees include an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from The University of Connecticut for his lifetime of achievement for the betterment of human kind and an Honorary Doctor of Social Science from Providence College for promoting the cause of justice and a just society throughout his career. In 1998, Mr. Cloud received The Spirit of Anne Frank, Outstanding Citizen Award from the Anne Frank Center USA as one who has stepped forward and actively confronted anti-Semitism, racism, prejudice and bias-related violence. More recently, he and his family received the Passing of the Torch Award from the Anti-Defamation League for their service to the community. He is the recipient of the Visionary Award from the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association and the Thurgood Marshall Award from Quinnipiac University, School of Law. He and his wife, Diane, recently received The President’s Award of The Amistad Center for Art and Culture for their service to the Center and the boarder community. He has taught corporate social responsibility as a Lecturer of Law at the University of Connecticut Law School. He and his wife, Diane, have three children: twins Adam and Christopher, and Robin; and five grandchildren.