Michael P. McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, presided over the organization’s 96th Annual Dinner Meeting on Monday – his first since taking office in August of 2013, succeeding James H. Buford, who led the organization for 28 years.
As the Urban League’s flagship affiliate celebrates its 96th anniversary, McMillan is plotting a path toward its centennial.
“Longevity has afforded us the opportunity to establish an unparallel legacy of community involvement and investment in positive change in the region,” he said.
He reminded the sold-out crowd gathered at the Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis that challenging times are demanding more and more of the Urban League.
Last year, the Urban League locally served nearly 80,000 people through its 25 programs. He envisions that the organization will serve 100,000 individuals by its 100th anniversary. Over the last seven months, he said, the Urban League has increased its membership from 37 to 537.
McMillan outlined a comprehensive plan that will help the organization better meet the demands of the 21st century through a strategic partnership with Vector Communications. He said the Urban League’s social services programs will help its clients obtain employment that advances upward mobility and establish wealth as bank account holders, homebuyers and business owners.
“Quality health care is also a critical and basic need that is not always readily available in minority and disadvantaged populations,” he said. The Urban League, he said, will expand its health care services.
Turning toward East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr., McMillan vowed to significantly increase the Urban League’s presence in East St. Louis, Ill. and St. Clair County.
The iconic keynote speaker was former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, Young has served as an ordained minister, U.S. congressman, transformational mayor of Atlanta and civil rights leader who fought nonviolently alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a key strategist and negotiator during the civil rights campaigns in Birmingham and Selma that resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Ninety-three percent of the black people killed are killed by other black people, Ambassador Young said. “Eighty-four percent of white people killed are killed by other white people. So it's not a race problem that we have it's a violence problem.”
Mayor Francis G. Slay presented Ambassador Young with a key to the City of St. Louis.
St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock urged the crowd to support the Urban League.
“In baseball, we learn that timing is everything,” Brock said. “The time to support the Urban League is now.”
Brock and his wife, Jacqueline, served as co-chairs of the 2014 Whitney M. Young Society, along with Todd Schnuck, former board chairman of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and current board member. Lou and Jacqueline Brock, both ordained ministers, have generously made a $10,000 donation to the Urban League.
The Whitney M. Young Society recognizes donors to the Urban League at the $500, $1,000 $2,500 and $5,000 levels.
Thomas R. Voss, outgoing president and CEO of Ameren Corporation and Annual Dinner committee honorary chair, presented the Urban League with a check from Ameren totaling $95,000. There was an audible gasp from the crowd.
McMillan said the Urban League’s strength lies with its members and partnerships, like long-time partner the United Way of Greater St. Louis. The United Way recently renewed the Urban League’s funding of over $1.2 million in annual support.
“We need you to get involved today,” McMillan said. “We need everyone’s help to fulfill the mission of this organization.”
For more information on the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, visit www.ulstl.org.
