1998	The original Portraits of Purpose (P.0.P.) Exhibit was commissioned by the Museum of African American History (MAAH) to pay tribute to African American leadership in Boston at the turn of the last century. A “Century Conversation: A Spirited Dialogue on Community Change,” held in tandem with the exhibit, invited those portrayed in the exhibit to participate in a dialogue on race in Boston facilitated by Harvard Law professor and Founder/Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute on Race and Justice, Charles J. Ogletree Jr..
2002-2004	The Portraits of Purpose  Exhibit is hosted by the Boston Public Library and Milton Academy.
2011	P.O.P. Exhibit was updated and expanded to 65 portraits with the support of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM) for the historic 2011 National Urban League Conference hosted at the Boston Convention and Exhibit Center.
2012	P.O.P. Exhibit is hosted, along with relevant forums and workshops by greater Boston institutions, including Brandeis University, Cambridge College, MassPort Authority, Eastern Bank, Darryl’s Corner Bar and Restaurant, Gallery 360 and the Institute for African American Studies at Northeastern University, Ropes and Gray Law Firm, Dudley Branch Library, and Milton Academy.
2013	Inauguration of Portraits of Purpose Leadership Awards are awarded in collaboration with UMASS Boston to Professor Paul Watanabe and with Cambridge College to Senator “Mo” Cowans. Both of their portraits are included in the evolving P.O.P. exhibit.
2013	Eastern Bank collaborates with Don West to produce the book Portraits of Purpose: A Tribute to Leadership based on the groundbreaking exhibit featuring 107 portraits. West invites Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kenneth J. Cooper to join with him to co-author a visual chronicle with historic narrative that provides context to the portrait stories. Harvard Law Professor, Charles J. Ogletree writes the foreword.
2014	Portraits of Purpose, the book, is launched with a series of community events and book signings along with an ancillary arts and educational program that brings alive a diverse people’s history of the pursuit of justice alive that spans generations and continents.