FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lyndon Pryor | Louisville Urban League
(502) 512-3681 | [email protected]

N E W S R E L E A S E

Louisville, KY, October 14, 2022—Today, the Board of Directors for the Louisville Urban League announced Dr. Kish Cumi Price will succeed Sadiqa Reynolds as President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League effective November 1, 2022. The board made the decision after a competitive three-month national search process. 

“We are excited to have Dr. Kish Cumi Price step into leadership for the Louisville Urban League,” said Lorri Lee, chair of the League’s Board of Directors. “There is no replacing the unique and phenomenal leadership of Sadiqa Reynolds, but there is no question that Kish will forge her own exceptional path and continue to carry this organization to new heights.”

Reynolds announced her departure from the Louisville Urban League in July having led seven years of significant growth and community impact. Dr. Price will follow her as only the second woman to lead the 101-year-old organization in its history. 

“Kish is the right choice for the League at the right time,” said Reynolds. “In addition to being committed to community and brilliant generally, she has a strong understanding and expertise on education and workforce issues. Two significant areas of focus for the League now and moving forward.”

Dr. Price is returning to the League, where she served as the director of education policy and programs from 2019 to 2021. Most recently, she served as  Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and Special Advisor to Governor Andy Beshear (KY). DWD connects Kentuckians to employment, workforce information, education, and training, working with other agencies to provide services through the Kentucky Career Center. 

“Dr. Kish Price is an incredible leader who I know will build on the progress made by the Louisville Urban League under the leadership of Sadiqa Reynolds. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive Kentucky for all,” said Gov. Beshear. “Louisville is fortunate to have Dr. Price stepping into this role. She is committed to listening to the people and advocating for their needs. I’m honored to call Kish a friend and I look forward to continuing to work with her in this new role.”

Dr. Price has focused on strategic action to support youth and families for over 20 years. Her work has been shaped by evaluating systems, identifying gaps, and braiding resources. As a first-generation graduate, former small business owner, and a divorced mom that had to work multiple jobs while completing a graduate degree, she is invested in helping people prioritize health and optimize educational and workforce opportunities.

She has worked to extend the lines of equitable access in her various roles with the state of Kentucky, as Senior Policy and Advocacy Director of Early Childhood and K-12 Policy at Kentucky Youth Advocates, Founding Executive Director of Smoketown Family Wellness Center, a higher ed administrator, a school counselor, CEO and co-founder of Empowering Youth through Education, and a trained clinical mental health counselor, practitioner, and researcher.

Dr. Price will take the reigns of an organization riding a tremendous wave of success for Black Louisvilians and the city in general. An interconnected agency that sees the humanity in every person, the League is performing well across each of its pillars; Jobs, Justice, Education, Health, and Housing. In the past seven years, 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 up to 25% of the local construction workforce. LUL, itself, created 353 construction jobs while building the Sports & Learning Center. Most recently, the League launched a Center for Entrepreneurship to start-up, stabilize, and scale Black businesses.

• • 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 which 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, and 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.

In spring 2022, the League opened its new Center for Entrepreneurship, that partners with other local organizations to support, scale, and sustain Black-owned businesses. In October, the League completed payment on its $53 million Sports & Learning Campus which has been a major catalyst for economic growth and development in the west end. All of this in addition to serving as the catalyst and backbone for A Path Forward for Louisville–a $1.1 billion initiative to intentionally and positiively impact the lives of those who have been intentionally neglected and harmed by years of discriminatory policies and practices. 

Dr. Price firmly believes we must work to simultaneously build new systems and heal old wounds left by structures strategically designed to oppress Black and Brown communities. Driven by the revelation that faith without works is dead, she leads with a solution-focused, action-oriented lens.

“I am extremely humbled, honored, and grateful to the Louisville Urban League’s Board of Directors for offering me the opportunity to serve as the next President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League,” Dr. Price said. “I do not take the station lightly or the mantle passed, from Sadiqa N. Reynolds, for granted. I believe it is my struggle and my privilege that have prepared me for this position.”

Dr. Price is a proud wife, mother, daughter, and sister. She is a National Holmes Scholar-, University of Louisville-, and Wake Forest University alumna.