Urban League Founders Legacy Campaign. At the height of the Civil Rights struggle, a group of visionary Madisonians formed the Friends of the Urban League. While the legal barriers to civil rights had started to crumble, discrimination in employment, housing, and education remained rife. On January 30, 1963 the group approached city leadership requesting a study of the city’s “non-White population and their interrelationship with the White population for the purpose of determining a need for an official branch of the National Urban League in Madison.” Their requests were repeatedly denied on the basis that “discrimination as it exists in other communities does not exist in Madison.”
Undeterred, the group continued and grew in number. On October 27, 1967 they secured their incorporation status and their official recognition as an Urban League chapter on February 20, 1968. Because of their dedication, and the dedication of countless others who followed in their footsteps, the Urban League has gone on to become a vibrant and vital part of the Greater Madison community. The League has remained steadfast in its commitment to equal opportunity over the last forty years, helping more than 40,000 families and individuals of all ages secure better jobs, educational opportunities, and quality housing.
In carrying on the spirit of those who paved the way, the League has committed to accelerate its empowerment agenda with a renewed vigor. The “Time is Now” campaign is one of the boldest efforts in our history to secure the resources need to close the gaps that divide all too starkly along racial lines. The $5 million campaign goal includes $3.4 million to build a modern Center for Economic and Workforce Development more appropriate for our education and training program along with $1.6 million to expand and enhance our programmatic efforts. We are already more than two-thirds of the way to our goal, including an unprecedented commitment of more than $600,000 of the Urban League’s own equity. Much like the visionaries who came before us, we can only succeed with community support.
The Time is Now is a multi-faceted project that involves the creation of a modern Urban League Center for Economic Development and the expansion of our economic development programs. It marks the Urban League’s 40th anniversary in Madison by sharpening our focus and modernizing our strategy. It is part of a massive transformation from social services to economic development services – from “civil rights” to “silver rights” as many have coined it.
The project includes expansion and relocation of the Urban League to South Madison in a new building to be shared with the Public Library and other potential partners. It will enhance the Urban League’s three-point strategy - Workforce Development, College Readiness & Career Development, and Equity Development - a strategy designed to catapult the African American community to a legacy of sustainable economic development. Through these and other activities, the Project will generate $20 million in economic activity in this emerging neighborhood in just a few short years.
The Urban League has already raised nearly half of the project’s $5 million cost. In addition to a $3.4 million modern facility to house the Urban League’s programs, the campaign will raise $600k to increase our endowment and building reserve fund and $1 million dollars to sustain and expand our programs.