Q: What challenges have you faced since taking over the Urban League in March 2004?
A: The biggest challenge has been the funding. As everybody has told me, “Eighty percent of your job is fundraising” – or, as people like to say, “begging for money.” But there’s been a challenge with that because of the cutbacks at the federal level, the state level; foundations and corporations have cut back.
A lot of the money at the federal level had been reallocated to the war. Because of that, it impacted a lot of the education programs and job-training programs. So I walked in with that hit right away. And that was about $925,000. (Our staff has) gone down from 18 down to 5 down to 3.
What we’re finding is that due to just the natural disasters, there’s a pool (of) money that’s going in a lot of different directions. There are 17,000 nonprofits just here in Colorado alone – all vying for the same dollar. Q: What is the mission of the Urban League, and how do you accomplish that mission?
A: The mission of the Urban League is to help African-American and other residents of metro Denver attain social and economic equality and self-reliance. The three-prong approach we use has been: (1) Education. Preparing (children) for the 21st century through after-school programs. (2) Job training and career development, which includes customer service and technical training. (3) Advocacy really speaks to the heart of the movement of what Urban League is in a sense of being a voice for the voiceless, whether it’s a civil rights movement, a discrimination issue or an issue of helping people advance by making sure they know they’re being supported.
Q: How big is your budget?
A: Our budget is about $1 million. With recent cutbacks, though, I really got down to the point of just trying to survive because I now have a gap of about a couple hundred thousand dollars just to make it to the end of the year. Last year, we did apply again for the earmarked federal education grant, and we did get awarded $350,000. We’re waiting for it.
Q: Do you think those funds can help with the deficit?
A: Yes. In those grants, about 15 percent can be applied back to your general operating expenses, unrestricted. The rest is restricted to programs, in this case, education programs.
I’m having to go above and beyond that. That’s why I’m asking the community to basically write us checks. We need people to write checks and make a donation to the Urban League as unrestricted money that we can use to run the Urban League.
Q: Prior to joining the Urban League, you spent 10 years at First Data Corp. How did that experience help you?
A: I was the founder of their foundation, which is called the First Data Western Union Foundation. That foundation was set up to offer scholarship assistance to the needy and those that are often forgotten – and also to support nonprofit organizations in the United States and internationally. That was almost seven years ago. That was really the impetus for my desire to come to the Urban League.
Q: Who are your heroes?
A: I’d have to say my father, Warren D. Alexander, because Dad lived by example. He was a fighter for the community in (the) civil rights movement. He was a minister. He made me who I am today and my commitment to the community. I would say my mother, who stood by her principles and family and when she retired (supported his) outreach. She worked in an administrative position with the United Methodist headquarters and the University of Denver before retiring to be a homemaker.I would also say Martin Luther King Jr. because of his civil rights movement. He was a minister. He is definitely one of the heroes I would probably call upon.
Q: What has the Urban League done to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina?
A: From Day One, when they first came to Lowry campus, we actually were out there with the Urban League table signing people up for job training. We’ve enrolled (14 children of the evacuees with the Excel Institute, a private school). We pick them up every morning, and we take them back home.
Q: Where does the Urban League go from here?
A: Upward. We’re still going to support our mission. I’ve been able to look at evolving the education choices for kids, whether it’s online education, after-school tutoring support, private school, charter school and public schools. We’re exploring those options so the Urban League doesn’t become outdated.
Q: How long do you plan to stay in this position?
A: I’m committed to see the Urban League through the storm of our financial challenges right now, and would like to see it into its new evolution – its new day. But my commitment is long-standing, whether it’s as a president and CEO or as an Urban Leaguer for life.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Andy Vuong.
