Wintley Phipps

Biography

Phipps is a world-renowned vocal artist, education activist, motivational speaker, pastor, and CEO and Founder of the U.S. Dream Academy. For his work at the U.S. Dream Academy he has received numerous service awards, among them: The Excellence in Mentoring for Program Leadership Award from MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnerships; the Oprah Winfrey Angel Network Use Your Life Award; and Philanthropist of the Year Award from The National Center for Black Philanthropy, Inc.

For more than twenty-five years, he has traveled the world delivering messages of hope, advocacy, and equality to many thousands of people. A video of Phipps performing "Amazing Grace" has enjoyed nearly six million views on YouTube. Notably, one of his most recent renditions of that same song came at the 56th Inaugural Presidential Prayer Service on January 21, 2009.

A two-time Grammy Award nominee, Phipps is no stranger to performing in front of distinguished audiences. In addition to President Barack Obama, other notable listeners have included former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, former South African President Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Oprah Winfrey. Phipps is also an internationally recognized speaker on behalf of the Dream Academy and young people, having completed speaking engagements in Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.

Born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Phipps moved to Montreal at an early age and then studied at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in theology. He went on to earn a Masters of Divinity from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Phipps has three sons with his wife Linda Diane Galloway Phipps and currently serves as the senior pastor for the Palm Bay Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Palm Bay, Florida.