Today the Urban League’s work is focused in the following areas: Education & Youth; Economic Empowerment; Health & Quality of Life; Civic Engagement; and Civil Rights & Racial Justice.

By JAMES W. WADE III
Staff Reporter

For the past 21 years, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland has presented the Equal Opportunity Day Luncheon. With the generous support of American Family Insurance and Dominion East Ohio, the 22nd Annual Equal Opportunity Day Luncheon will be held Thursday, November 15, 2012, 11:30 am at the Hilton Garden Inn andGatewayConferenceCenterlocated in downtownCleveland.

The Equal Opportunity Day Luncheon (EOD) annually hosts over 300 community leaders and business professionals. The EOD is one of the Urban League’s biggest fundraisers. This year’s luncheon will highlight Urban League collaborations withCleveland Municipal School District,KentState University and US Small Business Administration to achieve mission impact.

Presenters are Karen H. Thompson, CMSD chief of Curriculum & Instruction; Gil Goldberg, US Small Business Administration district director; and Dr. Geraldine Hayes-Nelson, Kent State University, executive director, Human Resources and Outreach Initiative.

The EOD not only provides crucial funding needed to support empowerment, community leadership, and critical youth education and development programs, it also promotes economic self sufficiency and interdependency.

Corporate, governmental, and foundation support undergird key operations, allowing the Urban League to achieve significant mission impact; providing assistance to Clevelanders in obtaining employment, improving skills through training and enrichment, exploring and engaging in all levels of entrepreneurship.

Finally, hundreds of youth receive academic support, leadership development, college access support, and the opportunity to participate in positive youth development activities.

Equal opportunity is a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences except when particular “distinctions can be explicitly justified.”

“Since I have been in leadership with the Urban League, I have tried to make everyday full of equal opportunities for everyone,” said Marsha Mockabee, chief executive officer/president of Urban League of Greater Cleveland.

The Urban League of Greater Cleveland is a non-profit social service organization, connected to the National Urban League as one of 97 affiliates in 36 states. As a funded community partner ofUnited Wayof Greater Cleveland, the League seeks to improve the economic, cultural, social and educational conditions affecting all citizens ofCuyahogaCounty.

“As we continue our theme...“Continuing to Build a 21st Century Platform: Persistence; Partnership; and Performance!” we reflect on the challenges facing the nation and our constituents. A 95-year history of empowering communities and changing lives for African Americans and other minorities calls us to continue the legacy that connects to our past. Record breaking unemployment, attacks on the voting rights of some of our most vulnerable citizens, cradle to prison pipelines, major disparities in education, and the loss of home ownership that threatens the future of the middle class compel us to step up to the demanding needs of the present. We continue our commitment to a revitalized Urban League by diversifying funding streams, exploring alternate economic development models, leading in innovation and collaboration and operating with appropriate levels of transparency and the highest levels of integrity,” said Mockabee.

The Urban League’s mission is to enable African Americans and other minority members to develop and exercise their potential on par with all other Americans through education, research, advocacy, and provision of services.

Today the Urban League’s work is focused in the following areas: Education & Youth; Economic Empowerment; Health & Quality of Life; Civic Engagement; and Civil Rights & Racial Justice. The Urban League of Greater Cleveland focuses its programs, projects, and initiatives on creating opportunities for minorities to gain empowerment through education, successful comprehensive career exploration, personal leadership development and entrepreneurial training.