Best Nonprofit Org: The Urban League’s Legacy is Still Growing

For nearly a century, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (Seattle, WA) has stood as one of the region’s most enduring champions for Black families, evolving alongside the community it serves while expanding access to education, employment, housing and economic opportunity.

Now, as the organization celebrates its 95th anniversary, readers of The Seattle Medium have named the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle the winner of the Best Nonprofit Organization (Large and Mid-Sized) category in the inaugural Best of the Best Northwest Readers’ Choice Awards, recognizing an institution whose legacy continues to grow.

Founded nationally in 1910 to help African Americans migrating from the rural South establish new lives in northern cities, the Seattle affiliate opened in 1930 during the Great Depression. From its earliest days, the Urban League provided employment assistance, housing advocacy and critical support to Black families navigating discrimination in a rapidly changing city.

Nearly a century later, the organization remains rooted in that same commitment to opportunity and equity, even as the challenges facing Seattle’s Black community have evolved from employment discrimination and segregation to housing affordability, economic mobility and persistent systemic inequities.

“Organizations like the Urban League were created in a time where there was so much against us,” said Michelle Merriweather, President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. “Individuals and families knew that they didn’t have to go through the Great Migration alone, that they had the information and preparation to be valued contributors of society.”

Reflecting on today’s social and political climate, Merriweather said the Urban League’s nearly century-long history has prepared the organization to confront today’s challenges.

“Where the deliberate erasure of Black brilliance is happening, this work is so instrumental because it is a reminder that we have been preparing for times such as this for nearly 100 years to support, uplift and protect our community,” Merriweather said.

That enduring commitment has also guided one of the most significant periods of growth in the organization’s history.

After joining the Urban League as vice president in 2015, when the organization employed just 12 people, Merriweather became president and CEO in 2018. Since then, the staff has grown to more than 150 employees, allowing the organization to significantly expand its reach in housing, workforce development, education, financial empowerment and public policy advocacy throughout the region.

That growth has enabled the Urban League to broaden its reach across nearly every aspect of its mission, allowing the organization to serve more individuals and families than at any point in its history. What began as an organization focused primarily on employment and housing assistance has evolved into one of the region’s leading advocates for economic mobility, educational opportunity, affordable housing and racial equity.

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