Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 11-1-19

Feature
It’s Official:
The Urban League Of Hillsborough County Returns
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
After months of prepara- tion, the Urban League of Hillsborough County officially is back in business.
The organization made its public debut last week at a re- ception attended by a few dozen community and busi- ness leaders at Tampa Inter- national Airport.
It’s the latest step in efforts initiated by Stanley Gray to return an Urban League pres- ence to the area. After 84 years in operation, the local affiliate of the National Urban League disbanded in 2006 after it failed to overcome financial troubles related to the renova- tions of its West Tampa office.
Urban League of Hillsborough County board chair, Nick Glover, board member, Jerome Ryans and Stanley Gray, who initiated the return of the organization to the area.
committee of 20 people. That group has given way to a full- fledged board of directors – 12 total – whose members in- clude Hillsborough County Commission Chair Les Miller and Jerome Ryans, Presi- dent and Chief Executive Offi- cer of the Tampa Housing Authority. It will host its first business meeting in January.
An executive director has not been named.
Gray did not seek a leader- ship position in the chapter, opting instead to serve in its organizing. And there’s still much work to be done, he said.
National has sanctioned the chapter, but won’t officially recognize it as an affiliate until it meets certain requirements. Specifically, it needs to raise $500,000 and build up its membership, Gray said.
To do that, the board will launch a marketing campaign re-introducing the Urban League county-wide and push- ing its focus on three areas: ed- ucation, job training, and healthcare.
Directors will address the first area via its STEM camps that will be offered next year to about 200 students during Spring Break.
The Board also wants to es- tablish a program that pro-
vides summer employment for youth, an effort that requires collaboration with the busi- ness community, Gray said.
“If we can’t get the busi- ness community to support us, we shouldn’t be around,” he said.
Gray said he is confident that the Board will meet its goals.
Chloe Coney, founder of the Corporation to Develop Communities, Inc., who at- tended the reception, said she wishes Gray and the Board well in their efforts to restore the Urban League to the Tampa area.
“I know how hard it is to get something going from the ground up,” she said.
Urban League of
Hillsborough County Board of Directors
Charles Klug, Debra Bellanti, Natasha Goodley (Vice Chair), Sammy Kicks (Board Treasurer), Kelly Parris, Jerome Ryans, Kenneth Ray, County Commissioner Les Miller, Karen Perez (Board Secretary), Ron Weaver, Nicholas Glover (Board Chair), and Jo- seph Johnson.
This time last year Gray, a retired businessman and vet-
eran, began organizing a new chapter under a sponsorship
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