LUL Board of Directors Announces Transition of LUL President and CEO, Sadiqa Reynolds

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: 
Lyndon Pryor
[email protected] 
(502) 585-4622

N E W S  R E L E A S E
July 5, 2022

Louisville, KY, July 5, 2022—On October 1st of this year, Sadiqa Reynolds will celebrate seven years as the President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. On the last day of that same month, Sadiqa will step down from her role at the League to assume the CEO position of an organization based in New York City. She will remain a full-time resident of Louisville.

The Chair of the Louisville Urban League Board of Directors has appointed a search committee to identify Reynolds’ successor according to the process established for all affiliates of the National Urban League. Even in her decision to step down as CEO, Sadiqa offers the Board of Directors more than 120 days to find the next CEO, prioritizing the needs of the League and the community that has been so supportive of her leadership. She and the Board have also agreed that she will continue to serve in an advisory capacity, even after her transition out of the role on October 31, 2022.

“There is no replacing a Sadiqa Reynolds. She is a 1 of 1,” LUL Board Chair Lorri Lee stated. “Her impact on Louisville, across Kentucky, and on the Urban League Movement, nationally, is tremendous. But it is the durability of what she has built that is most important. The Louisville Urban League is now a transformational
organization with a staff second to none and operational infrastructure built to sustain that transformation for generations to come. That is the hallmark of truly great leadership. That is Sadiqa Reynolds’ legacy.”

As the first female President in the League’s 101-year history, Sadiqa ushered in a new era of leadership and impact that was felt across Louisville. In every way, in every room, she elevated and uplifted Black people and those who have been intentionally marginalized. She designed an interconnected agency that highlights the humanity in every person it touches–doing so in a truly integrated way across the pillars of Jobs, Justice, Education, Health, and Housing. There is more to be done in the coming months, but so far under her leadership, the Louisville Urban League team has:

• Jobs: Placed 2,237 men and women in jobs, representing almost $54 million in new wages. LUL launched a construction training program, which has graduated 435 men and women who now represent a significant portion of the local construction workforce. LUL, itself, created 353 construction jobs during the building of the Sports & Learning Center.
• Center for Entrepreneurship: The League launched a Center for Entrepreneurship to start-up, stabilize, and scale Black businesses. We have already attracted millions of dollars and helped hundreds and entrepreneurs.
• Justice: Served 2,154 individuals through the Reily Reentry Project, the state’s largest free expungement program. LUL has afforded these men and women the opportunity to prosper again, free of the burden of a criminal record, and saved them $1.3 million in legal fees in the process. The League also created the Center for Policy that has already influenced significant wins like changing state legislation to allow retired teachers to return to schools without losing their pensions, successfully advocating for increased funding for JCPS Choice school teachers, and advancing equitable changes to eviction court process. LUL was a fixture throughout the 2020 protests and marches in the fight for accountability and justice following the unjustifiable killings of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee. Sadiqa, personally, spoke at and led events, and the League provided funding and other supports to the movement.
• Education: Served 3,725 students in out-of-school time programs and worked with graduating seniors to earn more than $1 million in college scholarships. The League also instituted an unprecedented intensive tutoring program that combines culturally-competent social and emotional programming with professional, evidenced based tutoring services for up to 1,500 students annually at no cost to them or their families.
• Health: Created a new Community Health Worker (CHW) program, changing the paradigm for how CHWs are utilized across the city and how “health” is discussed and responded to, including more investments in wraparound services for clients. LUL has removed more than 10,000 barriers for clients, including transportation, rent assistance, child care, food insecurity.
• Housing: As the oldest HUD-certified housing counseling agency in the Commonwealth, the League counseled and guided 394 families to purchase their first home, creating $50 million in new mortgage investment.
• A Path Forward: Served as the convener of the Path Forward work and the historic document co-authored by more than 50+ Black leaders and allies that identifies how Louisville emerges from its troubled past to create a truly equitable future.

“We get big things done quickly at the Louisville Urban League,” said the Leadership team at the League. “No matter the challenge or task, Sadiqa has always challenged us to find and execute solutions that meet the needs of those we serve–and to do so in a way that is sustainable. We have built and are building work that will outlive us all and directly benefit the impacted people of this community for years to come.”

This ethos is clearly demonstrated by the development of the Louisville Urban Sports & Learning Campus, home to the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center and the Humana Outdoor Track and Field. The League transformed the west end’s largest vacant and contaminated lot into a $53 million world-class indoor and outdoor track and field facility and learning campus. It was named Business First’s Commercial Development Project of the Year. The development was completed in record time, amid a global pandemic and a righteous uprising against racism, and using more Black-owned companies than any capital project in Kentucky’s history. In just one-COVID-impact indoor track season, it hosted meets featuring 9,000 athletes from 80 colleges, 20 foreign countries, 250 US cities and 27 US states. The facility has been awarded three USA Track and Field National Championships, and its impact and potential are just beginning to be realized.

Some other highlights of Sadiqa’s time at the League include:

• Quadrupling the staff and tripling the organization budget in order to expand its reach in community, doing so with 90% of jobs held by Black individuals and paying competitive, living wage salaries often not experienced by non-profit professionals.
• Providing access to free mental health counselors for staff and employees.
• Running Reily Reentry, the largest expungement clinic in Kentucky.
• Providing free wills, estate planning documents, and closings for Urban League clients.
• Generating $77 million in earned media on local, national, and international platforms including BBC, CNN, NBC, FOX, and more, but not including social media, and being invited twice by the United Nations to speak to NGO’s around the globe.
• Serving as the fiscal agent for Winterhelp and other community programs and services, including No More Red Dots–the city’s violence interruption program. Sadiqa understood before many leaders the vital and difficult role NMRD plays in helping to keep our community safe and made sure that organization was supported and funded.
• In partnership with CFO, Anthony Leachman, a Business First Best in Finance award winner, revamping an accounting and internal controls infrastructure that successfully passed 18 financial, compliance, and/or program level assessments and/or audits in 7 years.
• Being chosen as the National Urban League Woman of Power in 2018
• Being chosen as Louisville Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2017

Sadiqa has been the embodiment of the Urban League movement and its charge by the great Kentuckian and civil rights legend, Whitney M. Young, to “Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed.” She led with her heart, supported by the rarest of combinations of intellect, strategy, depth of knowledge, moving oratory style, and ability to identify and build the most powerful and comprehensive team. She has worked tirelessly and with an unparalleled sense of urgency, creating a culture of excellence and commitment at the Louisville Urban League that will last well beyond her departure.

We join this community in saluting her service and cheering for her success because we know it will be in all of
our interests.

About the Louisville Urban League
The Louisville Urban League assists African Americans and those at the margins in attaining social and economic equality and stability through direct services and advocacy. For more information, go to lul.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@louisvilleUL), or Instagram (@louisville_ul).