Clayton H. W. Turnbull, a Jamaica Plain resident, developer and business leader, was recently recognized as a Living Legend by the Museum of African American History Boston/Nantucket.
Turnbull, the CEO of the Waldwin Group, and two other champions for equity — Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, a former Brown University president, and Melissa M. MacDonnell, president of Liberty Mutual Foundation — were honored Dec. 10 at Boston’s Four Seasons Hotel.
The Living Legends Award pays tribute to outstanding lifetime accomplishments to civil and human rights locally and nationally, according to an invitation of the event. The award continues a tradition established by the African Meeting House. Abolitionists Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison and other visionaries were among the recipients of the award.
Turnbull has a long legacy as a business leader in Boston. Three decades ago, he secured the rights to develop an area for Dunkin’ Donuts as a franchise and, later, set about his vision to build Dunkin’ stores in economically deprived neighborhoods, according to his online biography.
Today, he owns and operates Dunkin’ stores in Dorchester, Roxbury, Back Bay and Quincy. In East Boston, he developed diverse Dunkin’ concepts including more than 10 retail spaces in Terminal A, B and E at Logan International Airport.
As a developer, he worked on a variety of projects, including revamping an unoccupied building on Allerton Street in Newmarket Square in 2005, erecting mixed commercial and residential units in Nubian Square in 2018 and developing condos in Jamaica Plain in 2014, his biography said.
Turnbull is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He serves on the board at numerous organizations, including at Eastern Bank and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He formerly chaired the Neighborhood Housing Trust and Dimock Community Health Center Foundation Board.
Turnbull was also vice president of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, according to his bio.
Turnbull has lived in Boston for more than 50 years and continues to be involved in the future of the city. He has served on the board of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, Black & White Boston and The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, which established the standards and influenced the way communities are revitalized, for 12 years.
