KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2024 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Robin Reed, Black Chamber of Arizona’s president and CEO, has died

Black Chamber of Arizona’s President and CEO, Robin Reed, has died.

In a statement Thursday, the Chamber called his death a loss for all of Arizona. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego expressed appreciation for Reed’s contribution to lifting up small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Reed had more than 40 years of experience as a business owner and consultant. At age 11, he voiced the first Black character in the “Peanuts” comic strip, Franklin Armstrong, in 1973’s "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."

The Chamber said it will make an announcement about its leadership in the coming weeks.

Kirsten Dorman is a field correspondent at KJZZ. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dorman fell in love with audio storytelling as a freshman at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2019.