David Lawrence Jr

President of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation

Nationally known Miami Herald retired newspaper editor and publisher

Ashwin is Counsel in the Tampa office of FordHarrison LLP, a national labor and employment firm representing employers. Ashwin is dedicated to diversity and inclusion, and has represented FordHarrison at a number of events over the years, including at the Minority Mentoring Picnic in Hialeah, Florida, and the Hillsborough County Bar Association Diversity Networking Event in Tampa, Florida. Ashwin also is involved in FordHarrison’s initiatives to promote and increase diversity and inclusion within the firm.

Ashwin earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Economics, Ashwin completed an advanced Spanish language and culture program at the Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo in Barcelona, Spain.

David Lawrence Jr. retired in 1999 as publisher of The Miami Herald to work in the area of early childhood development and readiness. He is president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and “Education and Community Leadership Scholar” at the University of Miami’s School of Education and Human Development. He leads The Children’s Movement of Florida, aimed at making children the state’s top priority for investment and decision-making. He is a member of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet and twice chaired the Florida Partnership for School Readiness. In 2002 and 2008 he led successful campaigns for The Children’s Trust, a dedicated source of early intervention and prevention funding for children in Miami-Dade. He is the “founding chair.” He is a board member of the Foundation for Child Development in New York. In 2002-3 he chaired the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Protection, and in 2011 he chaired a similar panel for the Secretary of the Department of Children and Families. In 2002, he was a key figure in passing a statewide constitutional amendment to provide pre-K for all 4 year olds. He is a board member and former chair of the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade and Monroe. The David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Public School opened in 2006. An endowed chair in early childhood studies is established in his name at the University of Florida College of Education.

Before coming to Miami in 1989, he was publisher and executive editor of the Detroit Free Press. Previously he was editor of the Charlotte Observer, and earlier in reporting and editing positions at four newspapers. (During his tenure as Miami Herald publisher, the paper won five Pulitzer Prizes.)

He is a graduate of the University of Florida and named “Outstanding Journalism Graduate” and subsequently from the Advanced Management program at the Harvard Business School. In 1988, he was honored with Knight-Ridder’s top award, the John S. Knight Gold Medal. His 12 honorary doctorates include one from his alma mater, the University of Florida. His national honors include the Ida B. Wells Award “for exemplary leadership in providing minorities employment opportunities” and the National Association of Minority Media Executives award for “lifetime achievement in diversity.” His writing awards include the First Amendment Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation and the Inter American Press Association Commentary Award. He chaired the national Task Force on Minorities in the Newspaper Business, was the 1991-92 president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the 1995-96 president of the Inter American Press Association. He was inducted into the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2010.

He has served the Miami Art Museum, United Way and the New World School of the Arts as chair, and is a life member of the University of Florida Foundation and a member of the national board of the Everglades Foundation. He also serves on the boards of Americans for Immigrant Justice and HistoryMiami. He was the local convening co-chair of the 1994 Summit of the Americas. And he co-founded a non-profit vocational-technical school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

He and Roberta, a master’s graduate in social work from Barry, live in Coral Gables and have 3 daughters, 2 sons and 5 grandchildren. His honors include: “Family of the Year” from Family Counseling Services and “Father of the Year” twice (1999 and 2012) by the South Florida Father’s Day Council. In the past year he has been honored with the Jessie Trice Hero Award from Health Choice Network of Florida as well as the Vanguard Award from the Miami Science Museum. Nationally, he has been honored with the American Public Health Association Award of Excellence, the Lewis Hine Award for Children and Youth, the “Children’s Champion” award from the National Black Child Development Institute, the Fred Rogers Leadership Award from the Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families, the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Advocate Award and the CNC (Cuban American National Council) Lifetime Achievement Award.