CONFERENCE
League headquarters on the Near East Side. It houses the Columbus Minority Business Assistance Center, a high-tech learning lab for middle- and high-school students; and My Brother’s Closet, the Urban League’s social enterprise and clothing boutique for low-income men.
“I’ve taken full advantage, as you can see,” said Bobby Faulkner, smiling as he showed off his dress clothes. The 43-year-old northeast Columbus resident turned to the Columbus Urban League for help rebuilding his life — and his confidence — after being incarcerated.
“Now I just have this take-the-bull-by-the-horns mentality,” Faulkner said. “I can’t be stopped.”
Larry Thomas, a career coach at the local Urban League, said clothes are just part of what programs such as My Brother’s Closet offer. “The biggest thing is that it’s a mentoring program,” Thomas said. “I hear it all the time: ‘They need to have something like this in every city.’’’
The national conference gives the Columbus Urban League, which also is celebrating its 100th year, the chance to show off the empowerment center and more. The four-day conference runs from Wednesday through Saturday at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, 400 N. High St., Downtown.
Hightower said the conference helps the Columbus Urban League boost its profile in central Ohio, increase its volunteer base and raise money for programming. The enthusiasm so far has been encouraging, she said.
“You have to raise $1.5 million to host the national convention. We raised $3 million, and that’s from our community,” Hightower said.
The National Urban League says its gathering is the nation’s largest annual civil rights conference, with a goal of engaging people in discussions of the challenges facing black America, along with possible solutions.
The theme this year is tech, and the conference will examine both the potential of the digital revolution and the peril that exits when black Americans lag in access and expertise.
The opening day will feature a conversation with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. That event is open to registered attendees only, but the State of the Urban League address is open to the public. It runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at First Church of God, 3480 Refugee Rd., on the Southeast Side.
Other public sessions include the National Urban League Experience expo hall, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The hall will be set up with hundreds of exhibits, free events and activities, including a career and networking fair, health screenings, celebrity performances and a volunteer zone.
On Saturday — Community and Family Day — all events are open to the public all day, starting with a “power walk” with Marc Morial, the National Urban League president, from 6 to 8 a.m. Other Saturday events, including a filledbackpack giveaway for kids, run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For complete information, go to www.cul.org/ conference/.