When downtown’s Center for Civil and Human Rights was a castle built of air, Doug Shipman was hard at work trying to put some bricks and mortar under it.
On May 8 Shipman, after having accomplished that, announced his plans to leave his leadership post for a consulting job.
In 2005 — seven years before the first shovel hit dirt — he was a manager at Boston Consulting Group, on loan to Atlanta, crunching numbers, interviewing stakeholders, helping determine what the long-sought center should look like.
He predicted workers would break ground in 2008. The year came and went, bringing not a new structure but a worldwide recession. The center was postponed, reduced in size, then postponed again. Last year the $75 million center finally opened its doors.
“Founders often stay too long,” said Shipman, 42, in a conversation at the center’s administrative offices on Williams Street. “I made a promise long ago, not only to myself but to” former mayor and board chairwoman “Shirley Franklin — this goes back to 2007 when she asked me to be full-time on the project — I said I will not be the long-term leader.”
This month Shipman becomes chief executive officer of BrightHouse LLC, an Atlanta-based management consulting group created by Joey Reiman. BrightHouse will be acquired by Boston Consulting Group, placing Shipman back inside the organization he left eight years ago.
Reiman will remain as chairman of BrightHouse. The interim replacement for Shipman at the rights center is Deborah J. Richardson, who was an executive vice president at the center.
BrightHouse, said Shipman, has become known for digging into the soul of corporations and helping them state clearly their identity and purpose, answering the questions “Why does this organization exist? What was it founded on? What are the aspirations of the leadership?”
Atlanta engaged in similar exercises ten years ago as the city tried to determine how to celebrate its civil rights legacy. Shipman supported two contentious ideas: that the center should be located in the tourist mecca next to the World of Coca-Cola rather than on historic Auburn Avenue, and that it should be dedicated to exploring contemporary issues of human rights as well as recounting civil rights history.
The center also showcases a rotating exhibit of Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers from Morehouse College’s collection. Though Shipman won’t discuss attendance figures, the enterprise was successful. Some suggest it has fallen short of the 400,000 visitors expected in the first year. Attendance is critical because the center’s business plan depended on ticket sales to help cover operating costs.
But Shipman said the center is strong, attendance in March beat its opening months and May should outstrip March. He pointed out that the center’s first fundraising dinner in early May raised “more than $700,000” — higher than its $500,000 goal. “We see the second year will be stronger than the first,” he said.
“He didn’t leave us in our infancy,” said Judith Montier, vice president of marketing. “Doug’s leaving us at a time when we are firmly on our feet, and we’re ready to fly.”
Joey Reiman, longtime ad man and marketing guru turned business consultant, said Shipman’s arrival at BrightHouse and the sale to BCG is a “win-win.” Reiman founded BrightHouse about 20 years ago, and said, “I feel like I’m at a 21st birthday party for one of my children, and that adult is going out into the world to make it a better place. That’s what every parent wants.”
The new leader of the rights center will be chosen after a national search. Shipman said that person will need to have vision, courage, and a clear sense of how to turn that vision into reality. “It can’t just be an academic exercise” he said.
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