Urban League names new area CEO

Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio has named a new chief executive.

Eddie Koen was announced today as the new president and CEO of Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, which was formed in 2013 when the Dayton Urban League and the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati were combined.

Koen will start Sept. 30 as the new leader of the local chapter of the civil rights organization, which it says is dedicated to economic empowerment.

He succeeds former pres- ident and CEO Donna Jones Baker who retired in Febru- ary. Chara Fisher Jackson, executive director of the organization, had served as interim president and CEO.

Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio serves Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Montgomery, Green, Preble, Miami and Darke in Ohio; Boone, Kenton and Campbell in Kentucky.

“Eddie’s business acumen, his passion for education, equity and criminal justice reform along with key skills in conflict resolution, donor relations and understand- ing of grassroots strategies made him an ideal fit for our organization,” said Alandes Powell, chairwoman of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio board of directors, in a statement.

Koen was most recently chief impact officer for United Way of Denver.

The Urban League said Koen is a Chicago native with roots in Alabama. He was formerly a managing partner for SeedIM Ventures, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on crowd invest- ments, acquires and advises firms that are either man- aged by or benefit under- served populations.

He was also the chief of staff for Denver Public Schools, a state policy advisor for HCM Strategists, and the founding regional executive director for Denver-based College Track, a multi-state nonprofit orga- nization that removes barriers that prevent underrepresented students from earning college degrees.

His extensive community work includes being a past member of the board of governors of the National Bar Association and board of directors for Urban League of Metro Denver.

Koen has a master of pub- lic administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a bachelor of science from the University of Alabama and a juris doctor of law from Samford University, Cumberland School of Law.