Executive Committee

NATIONAL PRESIDENT

B. Michael Young is a national accounts manager for Verticalnet, a leading provider of supply management solutions to Global 1000 corporations. Mike received his Bachelors of Business Administration from Howard University in 1994, concentrating in Computer Information Systems. He earned his MBA at George Washington University in the spring of 2000 with a concentration in Small Business Management/Entrepreneurism.

A native of San Jose, California, Michael currently resides in Washington, DC. He served four consecutive terms on the Executive Board of the Washington, DC chapter of NULYP ("The Thursday Network") - one term as Treasurer, one as Vice President, and two terms as President (1998 - 2000). Michael is one of the founders and founding board members of NULYP. Prior to being elected President, He served as the Eastern Region Vice President for NULYP for four consecutive years (since its inception).

Michael has been an active leader and supporter of various other local Washington DC organizations, most recently serving as a founding board member of the Young Benefactors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. He served two consecutive terms as the community outreach chairman for the Omicron Lambda Alpha chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. Prior to that, he served as Alpha's District Vice President for Delaware, Maryland and Washington, DC. He was honored in 1997-98 with the Alpha Phi Alpha "Award of Merit" for contributions to his community, and in 2000-01 with the "President's Award" from his fraternity chapter.

In 1997, Ebony Magazine recognized and profiled Mike as one of the "Top 30 Young Leaders of the Future" under the age of 30. Mike was also recognized as one of the nation's top young leaders by "40 Under 40" Incorporated; and was inducted into the International Who's Who of Professional Management and named an "Outstanding Young Man of America."

EASTERN REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT

Nolan V. Rollins audits Public Policy for the Maryland State Department of Public Safety, Commission on Correctional Standards. Nolan is a native of Baltimore Maryland were he lives with his wife Michelle Burks-Rollins and their son Mason Avery Rollins. Nolan holds a J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law, an M.A. in Legal Ethical and Historical Studies from the University of Baltimore and a B.S. in Public Administration and Economics from Virginia State University.

Nolan has been committed to the movement since 2000 when he became a founding member and President of the Greater Baltimore Leadership Association, the Greater Baltimore Urban League's Young Professionals. During his tenure Nolan has helped to raise community awareness of the movement and thousands of dollars which have been used to bring needed programs and activities to the Greater Baltimore area. Nolan is currently serving his second term on the National Urban Leagues Young Professionals executive board, he was previously the treasure and now serves as the Eastern Region Vice-President.

Mr. Rollins is a member of numerous boards and organizations which include: the Walters Art Museum's African American Steering Committee, Greater Baltimore Urban Leagues board of directors, One World Cultural Arts Center board of directors, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Henry Simmons Lodge #379.

CENTRAL REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT

Tanya D. Hopson is a program coordinator at the Dayton Urban League. She administrates several projects for the league including the Youth Employment & Training Program, Summer Employment, Workforce Development, Young Professionals, and the newsletter. Since July of 2000 when she joined the league, she has represented them at two national conventions attending workshops in workforce development, young professionals, and youth. Based on her experience and the knowledge received she has incorporated additional improvements which has strengthened the programs resulting in the responsibilities given by the CEO/President.

Prior to joining the league, Tanya worked as an Account Executive for the Berry Company working in conjunction with Sprint Yellow Pages. Tanya also worked as a Department Manager and Manager of Diversity Work-Life at J.C. Penney Company.

Tanya matriculated at Kent State University and received her bachelor's degree in Rhetoric and Communications in May of 1995. She has successfully completed the Dayton Urban Leagues' Leadership Development Program (class of 1998), NAACP Leadership training, and J. C. Penney Management Training Program.

Tanya is currently serves as President of the Dayton Urban League Young Professionals and Regional Vice President of the National Urban League Young Professionals. Tanya has been active in the community serving as Vice President of the Dayton Ohio branch of the NAACP, Freedom Fund Banquet Co-Chair (major fundraiser for the local NAACP), State of Ohio Youth Works Committee, National NAACP Resolutions Committee, Past Youth Advisor, and has represented the Dayton Branch at the state, regional, and national conventions. She has also served as Vice President of Education for Dayton Toastmaster Club #405, Burnett Clingman Enterprise Movers and Makers of Positive Change Committee, and a volunteer for INROADS giving workshops to their participants.

Tanya holds a life membership to the Dayton Urban League and a subscribing life member to the NAACP. She is also a member of the National Council of Negro Women, and Kent State University Alumni Association.

WESTERN REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT

Kea Hagan, the youngest president, in history, of the San Diego Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., brings over 8 years of experience in the non-profit industry. Before graduating from Howard University, with a BA in Liberal Arts, majoring in Political Science and a minor Human Communications, she participated in an internship with the National Rainbow Coalition and Education Fund. She helped the organization mobilize and train volunteers for the, well publicized, Rebuild America Conference in '92. After graduation, she continued to gain valuable experience with human resource management, membership campaigns, grant writing, fundraising and board management at the YMCA.

Kea, currently, serves as the Executive Assistant for the office of the President and CEO Office at the San Diego Urban League. She also serves, in a double role, as the Human Resources Manager at the San Diego Urban League. She is working on her Masters of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership: Nonprofit Management Leadership.

Currently, she is the Western Regional President of National Urban League Young Professionals; and a founding member of the San Diego Urban League Young Professionals, as a staff liaison. She also serves on the Executive Team of the San Diego Urban League Young Professionals as the Chair of Communications.

As the Immediate Past President of the San Diego Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she oversaw the mission and vision of the local public service sorority chapter. The sorority chapter has participated in many community service activities, throughout the year, that meets the Five Point Programmatic Thrust, such as Habitat for Humanity, Census 2000, Voter Registration, Black History Essay Contest, Youth at Work, NAACP Town-hall meetings, homeless feedings, Employment Preparation Workshop (partnering with MAXIMUS and Dress for Success), tutorial and mentoring activities and the Delta Leadership Academy. The sorority chapter also recognizes women in the community for their outstanding community services at the Breakfast for Mi'Lady Awards. Kea participates at the regional level within the sorority, as a Member of the Farwest Regional Leadership Team of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her leadership second term ended with the chapter selecting her to receive the Women's Inc. Award for her outstanding leadership and ability of leading the chapter in public and community service projects. This award is usually given to more seasoned leaders in the San Diego community. As the youngest member to receive the award provided much attention.

Other affiliations and awards includes the NCNW Award; a membership with the Children's Hospital Auxiliary-Southeast San Diego; Past Vice President of the San Diego Pan-Hellenic Council; Past Advisor for the SDSU National Pan-Hellenic Council; Past Primary Advisor for Nu Upsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; NAACP-San Diego Chapter; recent member of the San Diego Presbytery Executor Search Committee; recent member of Youth Ministries for the San Diego Presbytery (youngest and only African American); recent member of the Pastor Nominating Committee at Southeast Community Presbyterian Church; and Elder of the Southeast Community Presbyterian Church.

SOUTHERN REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT

Christie R. Jones has been involved in the movement since March of 1996. As one of the youngest members she served on the board of directors for Urban League of Metro Denver and is currently serving on the board of directors for the Urban League of the Central Carolinas. Since February of 1998 she had been a member of the Urban League Young Professionals serving in several leadership roles in Denver, Colorado and Charlotte North Carolina. During this time she has gain the respect of her peers and showed true dedication to the community as well as the National Urban League through her leadership skills and commitment to the Movement.

Christie is a Communications Manager in Brand and Advertising with Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her areas of expertise is developing, implementing and executing marketing strategies to introduce various banking products. Several of her projects have included consumer statement inserts, billboard advertising, and TV commercial spots. Her recent accomplishment would be a 30 second TV commercial on the kick off of the Bank of America mini check card. Previously, she was a Professional Recruiter for Wells Fargo, in this position she demonstrated leadership skills through recruiting and hiring, exempt and executive positions. While in this role she implemented several programs, which included New Employee Orientation, and several minority resource programs.

Christie demonstrates strong leadership and commitment to the community. She has or is currently serving on numerous boards, which consist of the Urban League of Metro Denver, the Urban League of Central Carolinas, Junior Achievement, Emily Griffith School of Trade, and The Quest for Our Future (student mentoring program). In addition, she has been a professional state pageant judge for 7 years. She continues to contribute to the community through mentoring, United Way volunteering, spearheading fundraising activities for local churches and organizations in need. Christie's passion lies in giving back, sharing and educating her community.

Christie has been very active with the Urban League Young Professionals of Metro Denver for four years. She served as Committee Chair for one year and as President for three years. In the course of one year she increased membership 75% in her role as Committee Chair. As President she generated new funding sources, obtained a platinum sponsor, introduced the Urban League Young Professionals to Colorado, established strong relationships in the community, and increased and maintained strong membership. She continues to support the Denver chapter via the phone from Charlotte, NC.

Christie is currently serving as President of the Urban League Young Professionals of the Central Carolinas. In January of 2003 she became a member of the Charlotte chapter, immediately making a significant impact on the chapter. One of her first task was to establish relationships within the community. For example, she has obtained solid sponsorships with Bank of America, Coca Cola Consolidated Bottling Company, and Lowes Home Improvement Company. In addition, she has educated the young professionals of Charlotte on the National Urban League Movement; in this task membership has increased by 29% in six months. As a result of her diligent efforts to establish a strong chapter in Charlotte, in July of 2003, she was elected as the chapter President. As President of Charlotte she continues to motivate, support, encourage and stimulate the community towards economic empowerment.

Christie received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from The University of Missouri-Columbia.

TREASURER

George Thompson, a native of Rochester, Minnesota and is a financial planner and portfolio manager with Smith Barney in Angeles, California. Currently, he oversees the investment centers inside Broadway Federal bank.

George B. Thompson is a nationally recognized financial expert, the author of Millionaires In Training: The Wealth Builder, and a highly sought after speaker. Known for his passionate delivery style, charisma, dynamic energy and practical content, George inspires participants for immediate results. His collective data shows the dynamics of using money wisely and effectively.

As founder and president of Thompson Wealth Management, George is dedicated to empowering individuals with wealth building skills. He is a widely sought after expert who's enriched the skills of thousand of executives, managers and professionals. His life's mission is to teach people how to create and maintain wealth.

George has been featured in On Wall Street, the financial industry magazine Tough Times, Tough Brokers, and listed in "Amazing Brokers for 2002", Los Angeles Daily News and other print media. He has appeared on myriad TV programs including: KTTV's "Making It-Minority Business Success Stories", KLCS on the Emmy Award nominated "In Focus", BET's Award Winning "Teen Summit" and EURWeb.com.

George also serves as president for Los Angeles Urban League Young Professional. This fall he served as the Los Angeles facilitator of a nation-wide program sponsored by the National Urban League and Philip Morris called "Know Your Money. This program is a three-part series designed to empower African Americans by offering professionals an opportunity to develop effective money management strategies through a series of financial management classes.

In conjunction with the Los Angeles Urban League and Salomon Smith Barney, he has hosted Wall Street Day, a program he developed to teach young people the fundamentals of the stock market and discuss such topics as budgeting, loans, debts, the concept of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. During this daylong event, the participants have an opportunity to visit Broadway Federal Bank, Salomon Smith Barney, and participate in a stock exchange simulation. This year marked its third consecutive year. George has been involved with the Urban League for 4 years previous to being President he was the chairperson for Professional Development.

George is the Minister of Finance for West Angeles C.O.G.I.C with the renowned Bishop Charles E. Blake as pastor.Georges holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Communications from Pepperdine University and a Personal Financial Planning Designation from University of California, Los Angeles.

SECRETARY

Cosette M. Grant, age 34, a New Haven, Conn., native raised in Apple Valley, Calif., and Palm Springs, Calif., was appointed to the NULYP Executive Board as Secretary, October 2002. She has been an official part of the Urban League Movement joining the Urban League of Pittsburgh as Director of African American Leadership Development, October, 2001. She has devoted much of her energy these last eighteen months leading in the development and implementation of African American Leadership for the Pittsburgh region. Also, she has focused on the attraction, retention and engagement of African American professionals, including young African American professionals in the greater Pittsburgh region. In her current contractual position, she established and organized the Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh as an auxiliary of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, February 20, 2002. Ms. Grant is also a founding member. Also, Ms. Grant was responsible for the production of the 2nd edition of the African American Leadership Directory, a community resource guide in place to assist corporations and organizations identify African American talent for board placements. She is also the Editor in Chief of the Black Guide to Pittsburgh, a resource guide to help market Pittsburgh nationally to African American professionals. Additionally, she has been successful at securing grant funding for 2002-2003 of over $300,000 to support the efforts of professional advancement opportunities by way of for-profit and non-profit board training and board placement of African American professionals in the region, with emphasis on young African American professionals 21 to 39. As a result, Cosette has been featured several times in local media networks for her efforts on seeking greater diversification in the region and pushing for African Americans in local leadership positions.

Ms. Grant wears two professional hats. In addition to her position at the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Cosette is also the President and Owner of Grant & Associates, a Business Development and Grant Writing Consulting Firm that assists nonprofit agencies and small businesses with business development, strategic planning and grant acquisitions. She formed Grant & Associates in May 2000, based on a demand to better connect non-profit and small business sectors to financial resources provided by the government and foundations. She sees her business as a work in progress for bridging the gap between financial resources and financial needs - linking resources to the needs of an organization through grant acquisition.

Ms. Grant has past work experience working for the State Government of Pennsylvania and the Federal Government in Washington, D.C. as a Consultant and Political/Economic Analyst. She holds a Master's Degree in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Spanish.

Ms. Grant is involved in numerous activities, a few are as follows: Goodwill Industries,Inc. - board; CORO for Civic Leadership Board of Advisors; Pittsburgh Regional Champion, Class XV; Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh, Executive Committee Officer; and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Finally, Cosette was just named one of 50 Most Influential African American Women in Pittsburgh for 2003.

CHAIR, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Rashad Moore has over 10 years of leadership experience within volunteer chapter-based, non-profit organizations at the chapter, regional, and national executive board levels. He is currently serving as the Community Service Director for the Northern Virginia chapter of the Young Professionals Network; where he is organizing community service events and programs focusing on mentoring youth, assisting the disadvantaged and increasing health awareness within his community. He first joined the Urban League Movement in 1992 as a member of the Tulsa Urban League's NULITES chapter; and joined the ULYP five years ago when he relocated to the D.C. Metropolitan area from his native home of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Rashad's non-profit leadership expertise has been honed over the years during his ascension through the local and national leadership ranks of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). While serving as Regional, and later as the National, Telecommunications Chairperson he guided NSBE through its transition into the Information Age; improving the efficiency and effectiveness of NSBE's communications and online membership management processes. He has also served as NSBE's National Alumni Business Diversity Chairperson where he focused on developing and implementing national programming focused on entrepreneurial education and enterprise development.

Professionally, Rashad is a Senior Information Systems Engineer at MITRE, Corporation where he leads an organization responsible for the design, development, and daily operations of a mission critical communications system. In addition to his technical leadership he was instrumental in leading the development of the mission and vision, and the organizational structure of his team; including defining and clearly communicating roles and responsibilities across his 100+ member project team.

Prior to his tenure at MITRE Rashad joined AOL as a result of the acquisition of LocalEyes, Inc. a small (8 person) technology start-up. As a software engineer at LocalEyes, Inc. Rashad lead a number of successful technical projects and was responsible for several ground-breaking innovations. Additionally, he was responsible for developing and managing client relationships; and conducting due diligence studies for the firm's acquisition strategy.

Rashad received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1999; an MS in Computer Science from the Johns Hopkins University in 2004; and will complete an MS in Information Systems from JHU in May 2005.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Lanesha Anderson has been very active with the Urban League for several years. She currently serves as the NULYP Chair of Policy and Procedures. She has also served as Vice President of the ULYP chapter in Pittsburgh. In her capacity as Vice President, she managed all of the standing and ad hoc committees for the chapter and assisted the President in the operational tasks of the chapter. Since ULYP-Pittsburgh was founded, Lanesha has served in numerous other capacities within the chapter. She was one of the 26 founding members and served as chair of the Bylaws Committee. Lanesha was also active in the local chapter's planning of the 2003 NUL Conference held in Pittsburgh and served as the chair of the local chapter's planning committee for the NULYP Gala. While in high school, Lanesha was also involved with the NULITES chapter in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she was a founding member and served as President for one term.

In the professional arena, Lanesha is a corporate attorney at the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, private and public equity finance, corporate and limited liability company organization, commercial contracts and municipal bond offerings. Her clients include institutional investors, issuers in private placement offerings, and Fortune 100 energy and manufacturing companies. She also has extensive experience in assisting clients with corporate governance, amending bylaws to reflect changes in corporate laws, drafting board of directors and shareholder resolutions, and preparing company annual statements and proxy statements to shareholders.

Lanesha serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Minority Bar Committee and her firm's Diversity Committee. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and served as President of the Alpha Omega Chapter in St. Louis, Missouri in 1996.

Lanesha received a J.D. and an M.B.A. from the University of Tulsa in 2000 and a B.S. in Marketing from St. Louis University in 1997.

She and her husband, Whitney, have a five-year old daughter, Ameenah.

MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Mark Adin Boles was born in Iowa City, IA where his father was a writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa. He resided here for a brief period but was ultimately raised in New York City. After completing his high school studies at the York Preparatory School, Mark sought the remote campus of Colby College in Waterville, ME. Majoring in American Studies, Mark also played varsity lacrosse, was a Colby Outdoor Orientation Leader, served on several committees and wrote for the school paper.

Following college, Mark began his advertising and marketing career almost 13 years ago in New York City working at Agency's such as Mezzina Brown working on the infamous Joe Camel. To ease his conscience after working on a tobacco account, he then took on the role of Director of Development and Marketing for a non-profit organization called the Goods for Guns Foundation, an organization devoted to facilitating gun buy back programs in New York City. Following his brief tenure there, he recognized the potential growth and opportunity in area of high-tech and went to Hampel Stefanides to work on NEC Technologies Corporate and Product print and broadcast advertising. In 1995, Mark migrated to Boston. Sticking with technology he went to work on Digital Equipment Corporation's World Wide launch and collateral programs while at Ciavarra Design. Continuing to ride the high-tech wave, he jumped to Leo Burnett Technology Group where he stayed for several years running various accounts.

Following the dot com bust, Mark ran his own marketing consultancy, Doghouse Marketing, focused on youth marketing through action sports, where he had clients such as Converse, Oakley and Radio Disney.

John Connors founder of Boathouse Group, lured Mark away to work for him as VP/Management Supervisor to work on Merrill Lynch and Sentient Jets. Mark was introduced to Jon McBride by none other than his mother who thought there were some synergies between the two. Mark brought Jon in on a project initially focused on the emerging affluent for Merrill Lynch. It was during an assignment to size the affluent African American Market where the idea for his company Juice Market Research was conceived.

Juice Market Research is a qualitative research company focused on emerging affluent and affluent minorities. They offer syndicated and customized research, strategic consulting and stylist consultation to Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies and political organizations.

Mark is the grandson of the late Whitney M. Young, Jr. Mark sits on the Board of Trustees for the National Urban League, and coaches inner-city youth lacrosse with MetroLacrosse. He is a member of the Dennis Yacht Club on Cape Cod and Club Motorsports in Tamworth, NH.

Mark lives in Hingham, MA with his wife Kate and 1 year old daughter, Ellie.