Seventeen members of Chattanooga’s minority workforce were among the first in the region to complete the Tennessee Valley Authority’s pilot Building Futures Minority Training Program. The program, offered in partnership with Tennessee Urban League Affiliates, was developed to train interested minority candidates on home weatherization skills and certify existing minority contractors for the Quality Contractor Network, an exclusive group of contractors authorized to weatherize homes across the utility’s seven-state service area that includes parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.

The free program trained members of Chattanooga’s minority workforce on air sealing, attic insulation and duct sealing best practices.

The three-day technical training session was led locally by the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN).

The New York Urban League (New York, NY) is hosting its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The fair is presented in partnership with the Malcolm Bernard HBCU College Fair Tour, Riverbank State Park and the New York Urban League Young Professionals.

High school and community college students are getting the chance to meet face to face with representatives of many historically Black institutions of higher education from across the country. High school seniors also had the opportunity to receive on-site admission and scholarships, with application fees possibly waved.

Workshops and guest speakers will focus on helping students gain the knowledge and tools necessary for them to move to and through higher education.

To read the full article, click here. 

New Orleans will host the state’s first Empowerment and Policy Conference, a two-day event centered on influencing policy decisions to positively impact black Louisiana residents, on Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 28 at Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

The conference, organized by the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus (LLBC) and the Urban League of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA),  will feature speeches from Gov. John Bel Edwards, National Urban League president and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial and CNN political commentators Angela Rye and Bakari Sellers.

On Saturday at 11 a.m., there will be a panel called “Lacing the Boot: Supporting a Whole-State Agenda” that will include five of the city’s black mayors — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Alexandria Mayor Jeff Hall, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo and Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins.

Last week, the Milwaukee Urban League (MUL) welcomed hundreds of students back-to-school at two Milwaukee Public Schools’ elementary schools. Team MUL participated in welcome back rallies at Auer Avenue School and Oliver Wendell Holmes School. This is the first year Auer Avenue School is working with the Milwaukee Urban League (Milwaukee, WI) as part of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County’s Community Schools Partnership program. MUL also participates in the Community Schools program with North Division High School. Oliver Wendell Holmes is a multi-year participant in MUL’s Project Ready: STEM, a science education-based program initiative from the National Urban League and sponsored locally by GE Healthcare.

Comcast may have a publicity nightmare on their hands thanks to the backlash and threats of a possible boycott in response to an ongoing legal battle with Black media mogul, Byron Allen.

Allen, who is chief of Entertainment Studios, theGrio’s parent company, spent years trying to get cable giants Comcast and Charter Communications to carry his networks, but has been repeatedly denied. He is now immersed in a $20 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against Comcast that has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, the Los Angeles Urban League (Los Angeles, CA) is stepping up to galvanize the community to support the business man who believes Comcast and Charter Communications, both refused to carry his television channels on the basis of race.

Former Urban League of Philadelphia president dedicated his life to service. More on his legacy.

National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement regarding the ongoing epidemic of gun violence:

“Recent announcements by Walmart and Kroger requesting that customers not openly carry firearms, along with Walmart’s decision to stop selling certain types of ammunition and handguns, mark a significant turning point in the effort to protect Americans from gun violence.