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About

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Overview

Established in 1916, the Chicago Urban League helps people find jobs and establish careers, become homeowners, enhance their educational experiences, strengthen their leadership skills, and grow their businesses. One of the oldest and largest affiliates of the National Urban League, we promote strong, sustainable communities through advocacy, innovation, and collaborative community, corporate and civic relationships.

Read our Annual Reports

View our 2021-2025 Strategic Plan

Our Strategies

Ensuring access to quality education that prepares individuals to become lifelong learners and to be competitive and successful in the global economy.

Preparing individuals for work at all levels in an ever-changing economy, developing engaged citizens, and building strong families.

Supporting community-based investment and growth through facilitating entrepreneurship, business development, and home and real estate ownership.

Advocating for policies and programs that ensure equal participation by Black people in the economic and social mainstream.

Partners

The Chicago Urban League is grateful to all of our partners and sponsors who help us provide opportunities that make an impact in our community.

Senior Leaders

Karen Freeman-Wilson
Karen Freeman-Wilson

President & CEO

The Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson began serving as President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League in January 2020. She brings a passion for equity and social justice to the organization, which works to achieve equity for Black families and communities through social and economic empowerment.

Having served in the public arena most of her professional life, Freeman-Wilson has deep experience in addressing issues that impact urban communities. She was mayor of her hometown of Gary, Indiana, from 2012 through 2019. She was the first female to lead the city of Gary and the first African-American female mayor in the state of Indiana. Her mayoral accomplishments included job creation, completion of a $100 million airport runway relocation, and the development of key areas in the city. She also previously served as Indiana Attorney General, Director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and presiding judge of the Gary City Court. She also served as CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute.

Freeman-Wilson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She is a past President of the National League of Cities and past Chairperson of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She is a member of Israel C.M.E. Church; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; the Links, Inc.; the NAACP; the Urban League of Northwest Indiana and the Indiana Bar.

Freeman-Wilson and her husband Carmen Wilson II have a blended family of four children.

Calmetta Coleman
Calmetta Coleman

Chief Operating Officer

Calmetta Coleman is Chief Operating Officer of the Chicago Urban League. She is responsible for ensuring efficient operations across the organization, overseeing programs, providing strategic leadership for external affairs, and helping to execute the vision of the President and CEO. She previously served as Executive Vice President of External Affairs & Programs.
 
Prior to joining the Chicago Urban League in October 2017, Calmetta served as Director of Communications for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago, developing and executing communication strategies to increase awareness of the university's impact through civic engagement and serving as a spokeswoman on community and civic issues. 
 
Calmetta was also previously Senior Vice President, Director of Editorial Services and Corporate Media at Ketchum, a global public relations agency. In that role, she provided thought-leadership communication, broad editorial support, strategic media relations counsel and media training for Ketchum clients across a range of industries.  
 
Other previous roles include Vice President, Senior Communications Manager for JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Vice President, Media Relations Manager for Bank One. She began her career as a national business journalist, serving as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal from 1995 to 2002.

Jessica Harris
Jessica Harris

Chief Development Officer

Angela Hamilton
Angela Hamilton

Vice President of Youth and Family Services

Angela M. Hamilton is Vice President of Youth and Family Services at the Chicago Urban League. She brings 28 years of experience from grassroots organizations, local and state government, private industry and consulting where she specialized in program development, change management, policy implementation and strategic planning.

In her role as Vice President, Angela is responsible for the overall development and transformational growth through a systems approach to our programs that are specifically designed for Black youth. Servicing youth on the youth spectrum, the programs created deliberately address anti- violence measures and intervention constructs, social/emotional learning and development, STEM exploration, college readiness, trades exploration, career planning as well as life skills. Most recent accomplishments include creating an Environmental Justice Program with the EPA (EmpowerYouthTech); Youth and Police councils in 15 schools (EmpowerYouthACTION); iRegister (ensuring that all youth eligible to vote are registered, EmpowerYouthACTION); and a digital literacy program for the parents of our youth.

Hamilton received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Roosevelt University, Master’s in Social Work from Loyola University and is a Licensed Social Worker in the State of Illinois.

Mavis Laing
Mavis Laing

Vice President, Executive Director of the IMPACT Leadership Development Program

Mavis Laing is Vice President and Executive Director of the IMPACT Leadership Development Program at the Chicago Urban League.  She is accountable for directing all phases of the program, including program design and implementation, as well as coordinating and overseeing the daily operations.



Laing previously served as the chief operating officer of the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, where she was responsible for managing more than 100 staff members supporting a wide range of operational functions. Her staff’s functions included management of 86,000 girl and 24,000 adult members who reported into seven local offices, cookie and retail product sales, and summer camp programs. 


Laing began her work in the nonprofit sector as Vice President of Volunteer Services for the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society in Chicago.  She serves on the board of the Primo Center for Women and Children and the advisory council of the Latino Policy Forum and is also a member of the Chicago Chapter of The Links, Inc., and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Andrew Wells
Andrew Wells

Vice President of Workforce Development

Auxiliaries

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Overview

In addition to our broad community of donors and collaborators, the Chicago Urban League is supported by three auxiliaries that help to expand our impact. These auxiliaries are intergenerational and promote activities in line with the League’s mission. They work to develop civic leaders within our network of supporters, and they provide thousands of volunteer service hours to the community.

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The Leaguers

The mission of The Leaguers of the Chicago Urban League—established in 1955 by Muriel Ibom—is to assist with Chicago Urban League’s fundraising efforts; perpetuate the Urban League’s policies and programs; increase awareness and community interest in the Urban League’s work; acquaint Chicagoans with the challenges that the League addresses; and solicit memberships and volunteers for Urban League activities. Join our efforts to empower communities and change lives by contacting Shapell Smith, president of The Leaguers, at snikko10@sbcglobal.net.

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Women's Board

The Women's Board was founded in 1966 by Dr. Arnita Young Boswell, the sister of Whitney M. Young, Jr., executive director of the National Urban League from 1961 until 1971. The auxiliary’s primary focus is to raise funds for scholarships in Whitney M. Young, Jr.’s name. The auxiliary is a group of philanthropic women who believe that “to whom much is given, much is required.” Women’s Board members play an active role in advancing the growth of the Chicago Urban League through direct service and fundraising.

“Our members believe that all things are possible when one is given support and the tools to succeed. By providing scholarships to students and supporting them along their educational journey, we are providing them the opportunity to gain the skills needed to be independent, critical thinkers, and productive citizens, says president, Jasmine E. Guy.”

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Metropolitan Board

The mission of the Metropolitan Board - founded in 1983 by John Rogers and James Compton - is to identify and develop the leadership potential of African American young professionals in Chicago. This award-winning group of young leaders provides service to the community and supports the mission of our organization. Join our efforts to engage the next generation of Chicago leaders by contacting membership@metroboard.org or www.metroboard.org.

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