W. Wilson Goode, Sr. is the President of Amachi, Inc. a national acclaimed model faith-based program for mentoring children of incarcerated parents and, a Distinguished Senior Resident Fellow, Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (PRRUCS), University of Pennsylvania. Because of his innovative and ground-breaking work, in 2006 he received two prestigious awards: the Civic Ventures $100,000 Purpose Prize, and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Citizen of the Year. He is an ordained Baptist Minister with 57 years of service at the First Baptist Church of Paschall located in southwest Philadelphia.
Dr. Goode has served as an officer in the U. S. Army. He also led ground-breaking work in faith-based housing for low and moderate income persons. He was the first African American member, and later became Chairman, of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. He again broke racial barriers with his appointment as Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia. He would follow that as the City’s first African American Mayor for two terms. He subsequently spent 7 years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education under the Clinton Administration. He left that position in 2000 to help organize the Amachi program, which is now his ministry and life’s work.
Dr. Goode is Chairman of the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation, and Self, Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to homeless men and women. He is a Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast PA, and previously served as the Chairman. He is also a Board Member of America’s Promise Alliance, Leadership Foundation, Eastern University, Palmer Theological Seminary, the former chair of the Free Library of Philadelphia, former chair of Cornerstone Christian Academy, Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School, Communities In Schools of Philadelphia, Inc., and serves as Chair of Partners for Sacred Places. He is a member of Sigma Pi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternities.
Dr. Goode has earned degrees from Morgan State University (BA), the University of Pennsylvania (MA), Eastern Baptist, now Palmer, Theological Seminary (D. Min.), and fourteen honorary doctorates.