CLEVELAND — *Editor's Note: The video in the player is from a previous report.
On Thursday, December 2, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland presented a one-hour special show, “All Things Urban League," on WKYC.
The special, co-hosted by 3News’ Leon Bibb and Cleveland Urban League President and CEO Marsha Mockabee, replaces the organization’s Equity on Display event, an annual staple that has packed hotel ballrooms for nearly 30 years.
By taking the event to television, the Urban League hopes to expose an even larger audience to its work and mission. With this opportunity, its workforce development and entrepreneurial programs will be front and center Thursday night.
“It’s important for me to magnify the efforts of my staff who are making all the Urban League services and programs come to life, and also the results that we have seen in the lives of thousands of individuals we’ve touched just in this one year alone,” explained Mockabee.
One of the entrepreneurs being profiled during the event is Althea Young, founder of NoBasis, a customizable apparel company located in Great Northern Mall.
Young, who developed the concept for her shop as a college student while studying abroad at EM Strasbourg Business School in France, wanted some help in expanding her business. As a result, she walked into the Urban League’s offices unannounced one day, looking for a business adviser.
During the special, she explains how she was able to receive hands-on help at the Urban League’s Entrepreneurship Center, which even helped her navigate through the pandemic and obtain government aid. For Young, one of the most beneficial programs was “Becoming Bankable,” which gave her critical information about understanding her finances and calculating her bottom line.
“If you work with your advisor/coach and show that you are going to follow up and follow through, they will always make you a priority,” Young says of the Entrepreneurship Center staff.
During the special, business executive Carole Hoover will be presented with the Steven A. Minter Legacy Award which recognizes her for being a "leader, a champion, a legend.”
The National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial will make brief remarks about the Cleveland chapter. He is expected to praise Mockabee for bringing the organization back from the brink of disappearance after it briefly closed its doors in 2009.
“Marsha took that situation -- challenging as it was --and has been a transformative leader,” Morial says in a tribute video. He thanked Mockabee and her staff for preserving the Urban League and making sure it remained “a leading non-profit civil rights agency in Northeast Ohio."
Viewers will be invited to become a part of the Urban League's mission, by volunteering or by making a donation to its endowment fund.
You can watch the entire show in the player below:
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*Editor's Note: The video in the player is from a previous report.