The National Urban League (NUL) is a New York City-based historic civil rights organization. It promotes economic empowerment and socioeconomic mobility to increase the standard of living among African-American and other historically underserved urban communities.
Since 1910, the NUL has a distinctive track record of making a positive difference in the lives of more than two million people nationwide through its local programs, and public policy research and advocacy. That impact comes through 90 affiliates operating in 300 communities in 37 states in addition to the District of Columbia. More specifically, the NUL works to minimize socioeconomic disparities through educational and entrepreneurship opportunities, job training, continuous workforce development, better access to healthcare, and quality of life. Students thus, through the NUL, have access to college preparatory classes, mentoring, and STEM education. Parents are able to take advantage of enrichment activities, homeownership classes, foreclosure prevention, and nutrition education that helps the entire family stay on top of their health.
Marc H. Morial has been the President and CEO of NUL for the past fifteen years after having finished his career as the Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002. He left office with an inarguable 70% approval rating. Morial has translated the strength of his political career into his leadership at NUL. In terms of the numbers, he’s led the National Urban League and the Urban League Movement to the tune of a $1.2 billion per year economic impact on their target communities. It has resulted in 246K being placed in jobs, 21K being new homeowners, 8.3M having benefited from healthcare services, 3M having benefited from education services, and 6.1M mobilized into political and civic activism.
While the NUL has strong executive leadership with 44 board members, the organization also relies on organic community activism with local affiliates. To maintain its standards, the NUL’s approval of local affiliates is a transparent collaboration. The focus is on leadership strength, financial liability, and organizational structure; in other words, quality over quantity. With every local affiliate, as well as the NUL’s centralized efforts to push DEI forward in the halls of Congress, the NUL continues to make strides in advancing African-American and other underserved communities.
