Urban League adopts strategy for progress

Local companies have agreed to be ‘partners for success.’

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 organization’s 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, work-force 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.

He said the following are part of the Urban League’s new mission:

U Education: All children must be well educated and prepared for economic self-reliance through college scholarships, early childhood literacy, and after-care programs.

UEconomic empowerment: Empower all people in achieving self-sufficiency through job training, good jobs, home ownership, entrepreneurship and wealth accumulation.

U Health and quality of life: Build a healthy and safe community, eliminate health disparities and ensure access to affordable health care for all people.

UCivic engagement: Empower all people to take an active role in determining the direction, quality of life, public policy and leadership in their communities by full participation as citizens and voters, as well as through active community service and leadership development.

U Civil rights and racial justice: Promote and ensure civil rights by working to eradicate barriers to equal participation in all aspects of society, whether political, economic, social, educational or cultural.

The local urban league traces its roots to 1930, when the Warren-Trumbull Urban League was established as an affiliate of the National Urban League. The Youngstown Urban League was established in 1966 and dissolved in 2006, becoming part of the Warren-Trumbull Urban League, which was renamed.

The organization has offices at 290 W. Market St., Warren, and 1350 Fifth Ave., Youngstown.