Warren-Youngstown Urban League adopts five-point plan for progress

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Thomas Conley, president and CEO of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League, says a new five-point strategy and the vision inspired by a Chicago Urban League leader have helped chart the organizations’ future.

The local organization spent much of 2009 redefining itself. It unveiled a new logo and Web site, and Conley unveiled the organization’s new strategy at its annual banquet held in October.

At the banquet, Cheryle R. Jackson, the Chicago Urban League’s president, who ran for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama, discussed the need for black Americans to focus on economic empowerment more than social services.

She said it’s important for more programs to be developed that simultaneously address education, workforce training and entrepreneurship, Conley said.

Conley agrees with Jackson that black American men and youth are becoming lost in a cycle of hopelessness and underachievement.

Conley and his staff have begun to recruit “partners for success;” business leaders, clergy and others who will help create pathways to success for black men and youth, especially opportunities for good-paying jobs, he said.

Among the partners are the law firm Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol and Small; Community Bus Service Inc.; Covelli Enterprises; Valley Foods; Rubenstein Associates; and CCS Transportation Inc.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.