WEBVTT - Nancy Flake Johnson Full Interview 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.160 My next sess has been the president's last CEO of 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.040 the Urban League of Greater atlantisin's two thousand eight. She's 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.000 well known across the country for her commitment and innovative 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:14.320 approaches to education and advancing the black community through economic 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.320 empowerment and urban development. She knows how to build partnerships 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:21.160 in the public and private sectors and drive the Urban 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:25.240 League's impact on youth, adults, and families through its initiatives 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.520 and programs. Please work on the money making conversations. The 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:32.360 presidents last CEO of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:40.519 Nancy Flake Johnson, and your audience, thank you for this opportunity. Well, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.120 first of all, thank you for coming on the show. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.920 Because my audience is about uh information and getting information 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:48.239 with people who are experts. I consider you an expert 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.080 because you're uh, you're changing lives. You know. My show 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.000 us about giving information so people can change their lives, 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.560 even as a group or an individual. You can be 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.560 a small business, you can be an everyday worker, Bree. 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.360 Celebrities on the show, and industry experts like you too. 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.480 Kind of like, I'm not the expert, so what I 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:08.520 didn't want to do a show? Mr Johnson was doing 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.600 a show where I was just throwing out height. So 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.320 I felt that by including an expert like you, you 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.000 can give a level of legitimacy when I talk about 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.360 going this direction. So tell us what is the Urban 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.000 League of Georgia. The Urban the Urban League of Greater 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:28.039 Atlanta is a civil rights organization first and foremost that 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:32.640 focuses on the economic empowerment of Black people. That's what 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.120 we do, and so each and every day we focus 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:39.880 on what we call kind of the fundamental, So what 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:45.920 every youth, adult and family we believe wants in this country. 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:50.120 We want an opportunity to earn and live a quality life. 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.480 And so we are part of a network. There are 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:58.160 ninety Urban League affiliates across the country. We're part of 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.720 UH and under the umbrella of the National Urban League 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.560 that is led by Mark Mareal and headquartered in New 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.280 York City. Here in Atlanta, we will celebrate one hundred 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:14.760 years of service to the Metro Atlantic community in so 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:17.320 you know, this is what we've been here to do 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:21.040 for almost a hundred years, and that's just support black 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.680 people to be their best. Okay, since you you've been 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.360 at we've been at the Urban League of Greater Atlantis 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.799 is two thousand and eight, and that's that's that's over 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.400 a decade. So what period of what I guess you 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.480 could say, have things gotten better in your goal to 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:41.360 empower the community and empower initiatives that will make a 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:44.560 youth and adults and families in the African American community 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.600 to live a better life. Well, you know what, when 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:51.120 I started in two thousand and eight, it was the 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.240 year that Barack Obama was elected to press to the 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.560 presidency UH, and we were in the midst of what 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.160 we now know as the Great Recession, and so I 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.840 took the helm at a time when the Urban League 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:11.040 and many of our partner organizations were needed. Most Blacks 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:17.520 were disproportionately let go on jobs. Our small businesses um 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:23.440 UH were definitely suffered without access to capital and markets, 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:28.680 and so it was a challenging time. But the fact 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:33.200 that Barack Obama was in office actually turned out to 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:37.360 be an opportunity for the Urban League of Greater Atlanta 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.880 and many Urban Leagues across this country to gain access 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:46.600 to vital federal resources that we were able able to 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:51.360 deploy to help black people and people in urban communities 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:56.400 across the country to plug back in to the new economy. 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:00.680 You know, things changed in oh eight and many many ways. Uh, 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.680 the technological revolution took place. A lot of the jobs 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.480 that black people used to have access to went away. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:14.880 A lot of black professionals were disproportionately pushed out, and 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.600 there are many who have never recovered. So our job 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:25.039 is to educate the community on the new economy, where 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.359 is the money being made, so that we can garner 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:33.480 the skills and the talents that we have to plug 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:37.279 into those opportunities for the benefit of our families and 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.280 our communities. Okay, cool, Now you said you started off 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:45.200 saying that the Urberly is a civil rights organization. That's correct. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:47.960 How does want to be? So? Is what can I 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.920 say this of the a CP Urbanly What separates the 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.440 conversation between you two. Well, here's what binds us. What 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:03.040 binds us is we we understand as civil rights organizations 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:08.960 how the country works. It works up a system of laws, 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:14.440 The people who make the laws control the purse strings, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:19.920 and so as civil rights organizations, we are partners as 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:27.799 it relates to voter registration, voter education, voter mobilization, educating 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:33.000 our people that we have to participate in the process 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:37.560 so that we can gain access to opportunities. The distinction 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:42.440 between us is that n double a CPS primary focus 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:47.839 is on justice and civil rights and ensuring that our 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:52.760 people maintain our freedoms. Then they are the champions in 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:58.359 that space. Urbanly complements that work because we focus on 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:03.320 direct service delay of verise two families to ensure that 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:07.680 we support the fundamentals the ability to earn a living. 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.320 Everything falls apart rashon if you don't have enough income 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:16.839 coming into your household, how does the income come. It's 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.880 either gonna come through employment or it's going to come 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:24.719 through small businesses or business ownership, and so that's one 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:28.720 of our primary focuses is to directly connect with community 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.279 to help people earn a living. The second important thing 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:37.360 is housing and homeownership and wealth building. You've got to 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.240 have a roof over your head for the family to 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.360 be stable, but you can't keep the roof over your 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:48.720 head if you don't have household income. So they're interconnected 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.840 and related. We want our families to be healthy and strong, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:58.000 and so we help people access healthcare, mental health, all 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.919 the basic things that if you're not healthy, happy and 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:06.200 whole you can't be successful at earning and keeping the 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.120 roof over your head. And then we help create jobs 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:15.400 by supporting black people to start and grow businesses. That's 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.560 how jobs are created in our community. That is how 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.840 we build wealth. And then, of course, our youth. We 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.400 have a special focus on older youth at the Urban 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:29.080 League of Greater Atlanta. We start with high school kids 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.720 to ensure that they have a solid foundation and graduate 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.840 from high school ready for college, careers and life. And 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:41.320 we reconnect older youth who have high school diplomas or 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.760 who have dropped out but are not on a solid path, 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.160 and we embrace them to tap into their talents and 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.960 their passion and their purpose. And so that's what we do. 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.880 We're here to help good. Now let's talk. You've broke 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.440 down a lot of segments that I'm gonna go through 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.760 in detail, so we can we can. But before we 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.720 go into that, how does a person become a member 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:08.360 of the Urban League. Okay, The Urban League has two 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:14.440 auxiliaries that are our volunteer corps. We have the Urban 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:18.800 League Young Professionals, their chapters throughout the country. I think 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:23.320 it's sixty chapters. Anyone under forty years of the age 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.800 can become a member of the Urban League and focus 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:31.000 on four key things. They focus on supporting our work 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.679 at the affiliate to help youth, adults and families. They 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:40.360 serve as mentors, tutors, instructors, volunteers, um you. They focus 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:47.640 on professional development. They focus on uh UM voter education 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:52.160 and registration and mobilization. The other group is our kind 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.560 of forty and over group, and it's called the Guilt 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.840 and you can become a member of the Guild and 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.080 they focus on both of them, how thin us raise money, 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.800 stilling our gaps, and just being expanding the capacity of 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.199 the organization. So that's how you can become a member 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:13.560 of businesses Companies can become members as well, and you 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.520 just go to our website www dot u l g 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.400 A l dot org and you can become a financial 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:26.120 member of the organization. We appreciate all support absolutely. I 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.280 want to break down a couple of areas that this 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.840 is money main conversations. And one of the things I 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:35.400 always talk about is entrepreneurship. And we talked about entrepreneurship, 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.079 which in itself is about small business. How does because 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.840 you know, I have Terry Dennison and on from the 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:47.000 s B, A and so, and she was able to 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.360 give me vital information direction for people who are entered 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:55.360 in general, loans and opportunity to educational scores is down there. 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.280 When comes to the Urban League, from an entrepreneurship standpoint, 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.640 what do you have to offer? Okay, we have training 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.040 classes and coaching and so. We have a small Business 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:14.000 Startup Accelerator track for anybody that has operated a business 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.520 for two years or less who wants to learn the 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:21.640 fundamentals on how to be profitable and grow and start 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:27.600 and launch that business. Those classes run periodically. Uh, they 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.960 are free and all people have to do is go 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.640 to our website, sign up and show up. Show up 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:39.360 ready to larn. We bring the experts into the classroom, 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:44.199 the bankers, the marketing experts, the HR experts, the lawyers. 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.280 You get to connect with people that are like you starting, 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:52.520 but meet experts that can build your network, which is 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.040 really important because when you're starting the business, there are 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.280 certain guidelines, certain rules that you need to understand. And 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.680 it's not always say it's not just collecting the money, 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:03.559 because that money has to go back out and has 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:06.000 to go out to the right tax locations, the right 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.400 employees pay the right fees for rent insurance. There's a 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.800 lot of things to add up besides I'm making up 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.880 and I'm just paying for the for for the items 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.120 that enable me to make the money, and that that 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.440 ten dollars or that one dollars broken up a lot 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:21.880 of different ways when it when it comes down, we're 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:23.760 gonna come right back and we're gonna talk more and 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.640 more detail. I've really enjoyed this interview about the Urban League. 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.640 Is the first time I'm talking to I was spoken 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.719 to Miss Nancy Flake Johnson. I'm glad she came over 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:33.800 to the show. She is the President CEO of the 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.440 Urban League of Greater Atlanta. She's been next is two 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:38.480 thousand and eight. That's over a decade. She has a 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.560 lot to say and we have a lot more to 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.280 talk to her about. When we returned back on money 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.600 Making Conversations. Hi, just Ra Sean McDonald. You're listening to 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.640 money Making Conversations on the phone. It's the President CEO 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.960 of the Urban League of great Atlanta. UM, Miss Nancy 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:58.679 Flake Johnson, Miss Johnson, welcome back to the show. Thank you. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.200 I wanted to try to say this correctly to myself 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.000 because you know, I'm very much aware of what the 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.640 Urban Lea name is, but I'm very much not aware 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:12.080 of exactly what the early does. Am I? Am I 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.920 wrong in saying that that more information needs to be 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.600 distributed about the Urban League to really get a grasp 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.719 for everyday people to come in and take advantage of 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:28.440 its services. You are absolutely right, um, And that's why 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.200 I appreciate this opportunity to come on your show and share. 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.760 You know, in the nonprofit sector, we're business too, and 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.280 one of the toughest areas to raise money for is 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:46.240 for some of those key functions like marketing departments where 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.600 you have on your staff full time people who support 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.840 promoting your business, etcetera. Uh. The other thing that we 0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:00.440 do and UH is you know, we're constantly fighting for 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.480 more resources because we know the needs are so great 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.000 and we've been around a long time, but we're not 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:12.080 a really super big organization. So we've got but we've 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:16.640 got thirty eight full time ready to work every day 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:20.400 on the job people. And if we can't help you directly, 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.480 we're gonna find out who can. And so you know that, 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:30.000 So we appreciate this opportunity and rolling into one of 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:34.880 our top priorities is to rebrand our organization and to 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.440 do a better job and raise the resources to do 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.360 a better job of really getting out there to let 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.920 people know how we can support well. I like that. 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.000 The thing about it is that, first of all, I'm 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.880 your friend. I'm ready to help. Okay, I'm ready to 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.840 use my brand because of the fact that I originally 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.960 started money Making Conversations in Houston, Texas, and when I 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.480 moved it to January into Atlanta a year and a 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:04.640 half ago, the success and reaction has been tremendous. And 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:06.720 so what I what I'm trying to say to you 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.400 is that if you need my assistant in hosting any 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.960 seminars there, help you promoting any similars there for business. 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.040 I don't know what your relationship with entertainment. I think 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:23.360 that can also help brand the relationship with the Urban League, 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.920 because you know, Atlanta is the entertainment hub now, there's 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.720 no doubt about it. Atlanta generates revenue tremendously in the 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:35.160 entertainment hub. And so I just feel that, so we are, 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.360 we're excited about this partnership. So we'll need after this call, 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.920 let's get together and snap it out. We'd love to 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.120 have your support because because because I because you know, 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.320 you know a lot of people know. My history is 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.480 entertainment managed Steve Harvey. And right now I have the UH, 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.840 the CMO or Air National Guard, where our marketing brand, 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.840 all of the the fifty States and the three countries 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.840 which include go on, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.280 and watching the d C all the marketing decisions. UH. 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.400 I'm in a position to be a part of when 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:10.240 it comes to the UH, their social media, digital so 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.720 I have a wide grasp of how this country works. 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:17.800 From syndication, from television, UH help relaunch Family Feud and 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.080 turn it into the number one game show on television, 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.120 and so talk shows and sitcom. So when I look 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.040 at your brand, and I've been associated with it because 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:28.800 I would used to always go down to New Orleans 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.960 for the Essence Festival and I but I always even today, 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.480 I've never known what That's why I wanted to bring 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.720 you on the show or your brand on the show, 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.600 so I can get an educated Sean, because if I know, 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.840 then I can help other people know. And I find 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.040 that more people like me need to actually step into 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.400 your building. More people like me actually need to be 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.960 speaking in your building and assisting everybody so they can 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.000 walk back out and go. You know, I tended a 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.440 meeting down at the Urban League and then people go 0:15:56.760 --> 0:16:00.760 Urban leg protested. No no, no, no no, We're talking 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:07.560 about business money, and we'll have to get Mark Parham, 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.720 who is the director of our Entrepreneurship Center, and some 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.880 of our expert coaches and the entrepreneurs that support us. 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.520 We want to you know, rotate as many of those 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:21.240 people on your show. Have you come and speak to 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.720 our classes. You know, we were open. We love to 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:29.480 partner with people. Um we we uh. We partnered with 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:33.120 all kinds of folks. We got Jackie d who uh 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:37.520 has started the Small Business Channel. He is an advocate 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:42.160 for small business and so we plug into his platforms. 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.160 So we're open. We're open. We would love to do that. 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.360 One more thing that I want to mention. I mentioned 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:53.280 the Startup Accelerator, but we also have a Strategic Growth 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:58.000 Accelerator for existing businesses that want to grow to the 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:03.040 next level and us. We bring both of these platforms. 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:08.280 Individuals that come to the classes put their business plans together. 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.440 We connect people with the capital. We have a partnership 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:16.800 right now with the Coca Cola company UH supporting some 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.080 of their minority suppliers to grow and build capacity so 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:25.760 they can get bigger and better contracts. We support people 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.959 up and down across the spectrum, and so you know 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.720 we get it. Well, business is critical. Well that's important 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:36.000 that you're responding to me like that, because I want 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.920 to help. I have no problem. I know these these 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.560 corporate sponsors want to see engagement on social media. I 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.639 have no problem posting something about if it's sponsible by 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.440 cold good friends of mine. You know, I've been knowing 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.560 them many years. Over there, Stellar Ringer, over there at 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:52.879 Coca Cola, good friends of mine, and so I know 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.600 that I know that you want to get these sponsors. 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.000 They have to see engagement, they see a reaction that 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:01.359 they have to be track thing. And so I know 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.639 my brand is available. I'm not trying to I'm not 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.000 charging you anything. I just know that I developed and 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:11.120 created monimating conversation. They give people of oars, of organizations 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:12.680 of oars to be able to come on my show, 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:17.119 tie themselves to my brand, and then strategically communicate the 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.320 needs and the ways that people can communicate with them 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.200 and better their lives. This is all this interview is 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.720 about better in people's lives. You better believe it. That's 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.560 all we want to do with Survanly. It's help people. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.719 That's our Mantris called its empowering communities, changing lives and 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:38.760 really helping people change their own lives. People have the power, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.120 they got the talent, they got the abilities. A lot 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.639 of times they just need a little help opening the door, 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.760 learning something new, but they're ready to go. Our people 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:55.960 are fired up. You find up up now because of 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.920 the political environment that we're in. Absolutely, let's just talking 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.960 about a situation. There are how does how the Urbanly 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:09.200 supports individuals who have been previously incarcerated big time, big time. 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:13.080 We got our start a big start in a big, 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:17.719 big way under the Obama administration. Back in two thousand 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.720 and eleven, we were awarded a two million dollar contract 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:27.000 to work with two hundred and fifty um primarily African 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.960 American men, but men and women who were within one 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:37.200 year of release from incarceration. Urbanly partnered with the transitional centers. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:41.840 We go inside pre release and we connect and support 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:46.320 people to figure out their talents, their goals, their interests, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.639 and so there are certain industries that are second chance 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.439 friendly and so the goal of the program was to 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:58.120 help men and women go to college and earn credentials 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:03.560 before they were released. This had never been done before, 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:07.240 uh certainly not by the Urban League and not we 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.920 were the only nonprofit in the entire state that was 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.760 awarded those resources. Those individuals did all kinds of things. 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:23.400 They became our lab technicians, a truck drivers, UM logistics technicians, construction, 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:28.800 went into the building trades, UM some started their own businesses. 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.800 And our whole focus is on livable wage employment. You 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:38.680 can't expect people come out anybody, whether you're incarcerated, coming 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.200 out or out here trying to make it every day 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.879 ten dollars to fifteen dollars an hour. It's it's a 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:50.840 We call those um um building block jobs. But that 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:54.840 cannot be the end all. Why because it costs too 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:58.359 much to live for that to be enough. It's just 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:04.040 not enough. So our goal is to help people arunstackable credentials, 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.760 figure out what you're good at, what you're passionate about. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:12.280 We're we've got programs for the film television industry right now. 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:16.520 We are partnered with Rob Hardy, the director you know 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:24.040 Rob absolutely miss yass y'all, y'all your own money main conversation, everybody, 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:29.480 come on my show, Miss Johnson. Well, we've got thirteen 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:34.000 people right now that we've partnered with Amazing Stories Foundation, 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:38.040 Urban League, Fulton County and the City of Atlanta Work source. 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.919 Thirteen people are out right now as we speak, working 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:47.560 on television and movie sets, gaining experience because we've cracked 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:51.040 open some doors with the help of Rob Hardy, Tyler 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:55.359 Perry Studios and others. So we're trying to get our 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:59.320 people into the money making. There's nine billion dollars being 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:03.159 made right here in our backyards, and not enough of 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:06.920 our people can get in. It's a tight industry. You've 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.280 got to know people, you've got a network, you gotta 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:12.920 have skill set, and so you know, we want to 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:16.720 open up as many doors as we possibly can. Well, 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:21.119 I'm tasting. I've seen in this conversation the interview you 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:26.280 your passion and I believe has developed because you hear 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:28.760 somebody on the or the end of the phone who's 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:31.960 equally passion, who wants to hear and I want to 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:34.919 be a part of your of your dream because dreams 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:36.000 you have, you have to have a lot of people 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:37.360 in your dream. If you if you have a dream 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:39.280 the only person to drinks, that's not a good dream. 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:43.920 That's a night man about dream for everyone. If we're 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:48.080 with it, we can't do it alone. Everything urbanly does. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:52.680 We're doing partnerships. We partnered with the technical colleges, partners businesses, 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:55.600 We partner with the government, We partner with private sector, 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:59.159 with the civil rights organizations. We gotta be partners. We 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:03.160 gotta work together. We can't be divided. We gotta be united. Well, 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:06.359 you gotta you gotta partner here. Rashan McDonald hosting Money 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:08.080 Making Conversations. I want to thank you for coming on 0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:10.760 my show. I feel that by being on my show 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:12.879 you understand who I am a little bit now. Now 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:14.760 you need to see me in person. Realize I am 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:17.080 a man or a person that backs up what he says. 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.320 So my man uh Adele Henderson was reaching out to you, 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:21.919 be setting up a meeting so we can come by 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:24.800 there and personally see everything and build these dreams.