The 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at the MCCA Diversity Gala on July 19, 2016 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Holder is the first African-American to serve as U.S. Attorney General and the third-longest serving attorney general in U.S. history. Under his leadership, the U.S. Department of Justice protected the American people from acts of terrorism; prosecuted perpetrators of heinous crimes; and restored its antitrust, civil rights, and environment and natural resources divisions to their historical missions. As attorney general and previously as deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton, Mr. Holder instituted department-wide policies that made staff diversity a priority.