The Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream.

Our Movement

The Urban League movement was founded in 1910. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads our nonprofit, nonpartisan, community-based movement. The heart of the Urban League movement is our professionally staffed Urban League affiliates in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Our Mission

The mission of the Urban League movement is to enable African Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power and civil rights.

Our Agenda

Our five-point agenda for pursuing the mission is:

• Education and Youth: Ensuring that all of our children are well-educated and prepared for economic self-reliance in the 21st century;
  

• Economic Empowerment: Empowering all people in attaining economic self-sufficiency through job training, good jobs, homeownership, entrepreneurship and wealth accumulation;
  

• Health and Quality of Life: Working to build healthy and safe communities to eliminate health disparities through prevention, healthy eating and fitness, as well as ensuring access to affordable healthcare for all people;
  

• Civic Engagement and Leadership: Empowering all people to take an active role in determining the direction, quality of life, public policy and leadership in their communities by full participation as citizens and voters, as well as through active community service and leadership development;
  

• Civil Rights and Racial Justice: Promoting and ensuring our civil rights by actively working to eradicate barriers to equal participation in all aspects of American society, whether political, social, educational or cultural.
  

Urban League affiliates employ these five strategies, plus others tailored to local needs, in order to implement the mission of our movement. For more information about the League visit their web site at www.nul.org.