Speaker 1: My next sess has been the president's last CEO of
Speaker 1: the Urban League of Greater atlantisin's two thousand eight. She's
Speaker 1: well known across the country for her commitment and innovative
Speaker 1: approaches to education and advancing the black community through economic
Speaker 1: empowerment and urban development. She knows how to build partnerships
Speaker 1: in the public and private sectors and drive the Urban
Speaker 1: League's impact on youth, adults, and families through its initiatives
Speaker 1: and programs. Please work on the money making conversations. The
Speaker 1: presidents last CEO of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta,
Speaker 1: Nancy Flake Johnson, and your audience, thank you for this opportunity. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, thank you for coming on the show.
Speaker 1: Because my audience is about uh information and getting information
Speaker 1: with people who are experts. I consider you an expert
Speaker 1: because you're uh, you're changing lives. You know. My show
Speaker 1: us about giving information so people can change their lives,
Speaker 1: even as a group or an individual. You can be
Speaker 1: a small business, you can be an everyday worker, Bree.
Speaker 1: Celebrities on the show, and industry experts like you too.
Speaker 1: Kind of like, I'm not the expert, so what I
Speaker 1: didn't want to do a show? Mr Johnson was doing
Speaker 1: a show where I was just throwing out height. So
Speaker 1: I felt that by including an expert like you, you
Speaker 1: can give a level of legitimacy when I talk about
Speaker 1: going this direction. So tell us what is the Urban
Speaker 1: League of Georgia. The Urban the Urban League of Greater
Speaker 1: Atlanta is a civil rights organization first and foremost that
Speaker 1: focuses on the economic empowerment of Black people. That's what
Speaker 1: we do, and so each and every day we focus
Speaker 1: on what we call kind of the fundamental, So what
Speaker 1: every youth, adult and family we believe wants in this country.
Speaker 1: We want an opportunity to earn and live a quality life.
Speaker 1: And so we are part of a network. There are
Speaker 1: ninety Urban League affiliates across the country. We're part of
Speaker 1: UH and under the umbrella of the National Urban League
Speaker 1: that is led by Mark Mareal and headquartered in New
Speaker 1: York City. Here in Atlanta, we will celebrate one hundred
Speaker 1: years of service to the Metro Atlantic community in so
Speaker 1: you know, this is what we've been here to do
Speaker 1: for almost a hundred years, and that's just support black
Speaker 1: people to be their best. Okay, since you you've been
Speaker 1: at we've been at the Urban League of Greater Atlantis
Speaker 1: is two thousand and eight, and that's that's that's over
Speaker 1: a decade. So what period of what I guess you
Speaker 1: could say, have things gotten better in your goal to
Speaker 1: empower the community and empower initiatives that will make a
Speaker 1: youth and adults and families in the African American community
Speaker 1: to live a better life. Well, you know what, when
Speaker 1: I started in two thousand and eight, it was the
Speaker 1: year that Barack Obama was elected to press to the
Speaker 1: presidency UH, and we were in the midst of what
Speaker 1: we now know as the Great Recession, and so I
Speaker 1: took the helm at a time when the Urban League
Speaker 1: and many of our partner organizations were needed. Most Blacks
Speaker 1: were disproportionately let go on jobs. Our small businesses um
Speaker 1: UH were definitely suffered without access to capital and markets,
Speaker 1: and so it was a challenging time. But the fact
Speaker 1: that Barack Obama was in office actually turned out to
Speaker 1: be an opportunity for the Urban League of Greater Atlanta
Speaker 1: and many Urban Leagues across this country to gain access
Speaker 1: to vital federal resources that we were able able to
Speaker 1: deploy to help black people and people in urban communities
Speaker 1: across the country to plug back in to the new economy.
Speaker 1: You know, things changed in oh eight and many many ways. Uh,
Speaker 1: the technological revolution took place. A lot of the jobs
Speaker 1: that black people used to have access to went away.
Speaker 1: A lot of black professionals were disproportionately pushed out, and
Speaker 1: there are many who have never recovered. So our job
Speaker 1: is to educate the community on the new economy, where
Speaker 1: is the money being made, so that we can garner
Speaker 1: the skills and the talents that we have to plug
Speaker 1: into those opportunities for the benefit of our families and
Speaker 1: our communities. Okay, cool, Now you said you started off
Speaker 1: saying that the Urberly is a civil rights organization. That's correct.
Speaker 1: How does want to be? So? Is what can I
Speaker 1: say this of the a CP Urbanly What separates the
Speaker 1: conversation between you two. Well, here's what binds us. What
Speaker 1: binds us is we we understand as civil rights organizations
Speaker 1: how the country works. It works up a system of laws,
Speaker 1: The people who make the laws control the purse strings,
Speaker 1: and so as civil rights organizations, we are partners as
Speaker 1: it relates to voter registration, voter education, voter mobilization, educating
Speaker 1: our people that we have to participate in the process
Speaker 1: so that we can gain access to opportunities. The distinction
Speaker 1: between us is that n double a CPS primary focus
Speaker 1: is on justice and civil rights and ensuring that our
Speaker 1: people maintain our freedoms. Then they are the champions in
Speaker 1: that space. Urbanly complements that work because we focus on
Speaker 1: direct service delay of verise two families to ensure that
Speaker 1: we support the fundamentals the ability to earn a living.
Speaker 1: Everything falls apart rashon if you don't have enough income
Speaker 1: coming into your household, how does the income come. It's
Speaker 1: either gonna come through employment or it's going to come
Speaker 1: through small businesses or business ownership, and so that's one
Speaker 1: of our primary focuses is to directly connect with community
Speaker 1: to help people earn a living. The second important thing
Speaker 1: is housing and homeownership and wealth building. You've got to
Speaker 1: have a roof over your head for the family to
Speaker 1: be stable, but you can't keep the roof over your
Speaker 1: head if you don't have household income. So they're interconnected
Speaker 1: and related. We want our families to be healthy and strong,
Speaker 1: and so we help people access healthcare, mental health, all
Speaker 1: the basic things that if you're not healthy, happy and
Speaker 1: whole you can't be successful at earning and keeping the
Speaker 1: roof over your head. And then we help create jobs
Speaker 1: by supporting black people to start and grow businesses. That's
Speaker 1: how jobs are created in our community. That is how
Speaker 1: we build wealth. And then, of course, our youth. We
Speaker 1: have a special focus on older youth at the Urban
Speaker 1: League of Greater Atlanta. We start with high school kids
Speaker 1: to ensure that they have a solid foundation and graduate
Speaker 1: from high school ready for college, careers and life. And
Speaker 1: we reconnect older youth who have high school diplomas or
Speaker 1: who have dropped out but are not on a solid path,
Speaker 1: and we embrace them to tap into their talents and
Speaker 1: their passion and their purpose. And so that's what we do.
Speaker 1: We're here to help good. Now let's talk. You've broke
Speaker 1: down a lot of segments that I'm gonna go through
Speaker 1: in detail, so we can we can. But before we
Speaker 1: go into that, how does a person become a member
Speaker 1: of the Urban League. Okay, The Urban League has two
Speaker 1: auxiliaries that are our volunteer corps. We have the Urban
Speaker 1: League Young Professionals, their chapters throughout the country. I think
Speaker 1: it's sixty chapters. Anyone under forty years of the age
Speaker 1: can become a member of the Urban League and focus
Speaker 1: on four key things. They focus on supporting our work
Speaker 1: at the affiliate to help youth, adults and families. They
Speaker 1: serve as mentors, tutors, instructors, volunteers, um you. They focus
Speaker 1: on professional development. They focus on uh UM voter education
Speaker 1: and registration and mobilization. The other group is our kind
Speaker 1: of forty and over group, and it's called the Guilt
Speaker 1: and you can become a member of the Guild and
Speaker 1: they focus on both of them, how thin us raise money,
Speaker 1: stilling our gaps, and just being expanding the capacity of
Speaker 1: the organization. So that's how you can become a member
Speaker 1: of businesses Companies can become members as well, and you
Speaker 1: just go to our website www dot u l g
Speaker 1: A l dot org and you can become a financial
Speaker 1: member of the organization. We appreciate all support absolutely. I
Speaker 1: want to break down a couple of areas that this
Speaker 1: is money main conversations. And one of the things I
Speaker 1: always talk about is entrepreneurship. And we talked about entrepreneurship,
Speaker 1: which in itself is about small business. How does because
Speaker 1: you know, I have Terry Dennison and on from the
Speaker 1: s B, A and so, and she was able to
Speaker 1: give me vital information direction for people who are entered
Speaker 1: in general, loans and opportunity to educational scores is down there.
Speaker 1: When comes to the Urban League, from an entrepreneurship standpoint,
Speaker 1: what do you have to offer? Okay, we have training
Speaker 1: classes and coaching and so. We have a small Business
Speaker 1: Startup Accelerator track for anybody that has operated a business
Speaker 1: for two years or less who wants to learn the
Speaker 1: fundamentals on how to be profitable and grow and start
Speaker 1: and launch that business. Those classes run periodically. Uh, they
Speaker 1: are free and all people have to do is go
Speaker 1: to our website, sign up and show up. Show up
Speaker 1: ready to larn. We bring the experts into the classroom,
Speaker 1: the bankers, the marketing experts, the HR experts, the lawyers.
Speaker 1: You get to connect with people that are like you starting,
Speaker 1: but meet experts that can build your network, which is
Speaker 1: really important because when you're starting the business, there are
Speaker 1: certain guidelines, certain rules that you need to understand. And
Speaker 1: it's not always say it's not just collecting the money,
Speaker 1: because that money has to go back out and has
Speaker 1: to go out to the right tax locations, the right
Speaker 1: employees pay the right fees for rent insurance. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of things to add up besides I'm making up
Speaker 1: and I'm just paying for the for for the items
Speaker 1: that enable me to make the money, and that that
Speaker 1: ten dollars or that one dollars broken up a lot
Speaker 1: of different ways when it when it comes down, we're
Speaker 1: gonna come right back and we're gonna talk more and
Speaker 1: more detail. I've really enjoyed this interview about the Urban League.
Speaker 1: Is the first time I'm talking to I was spoken
Speaker 1: to Miss Nancy Flake Johnson. I'm glad she came over
Speaker 1: to the show. She is the President CEO of the
Speaker 1: Urban League of Greater Atlanta. She's been next is two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. That's over a decade. She has a
Speaker 1: lot to say and we have a lot more to
Speaker 1: talk to her about. When we returned back on money
Speaker 1: Making Conversations. Hi, just Ra Sean McDonald. You're listening to
Speaker 1: money Making Conversations on the phone. It's the President CEO
Speaker 1: of the Urban League of great Atlanta. UM, Miss Nancy
Speaker 1: Flake Johnson, Miss Johnson, welcome back to the show. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I wanted to try to say this correctly to myself
Speaker 1: because you know, I'm very much aware of what the
Speaker 1: Urban Lea name is, but I'm very much not aware
Speaker 1: of exactly what the early does. Am I? Am I
Speaker 1: wrong in saying that that more information needs to be
Speaker 1: distributed about the Urban League to really get a grasp
Speaker 1: for everyday people to come in and take advantage of
Speaker 1: its services. You are absolutely right, um, And that's why
Speaker 1: I appreciate this opportunity to come on your show and share.
Speaker 1: You know, in the nonprofit sector, we're business too, and
Speaker 1: one of the toughest areas to raise money for is
Speaker 1: for some of those key functions like marketing departments where
Speaker 1: you have on your staff full time people who support
Speaker 1: promoting your business, etcetera. Uh. The other thing that we
Speaker 1: do and UH is you know, we're constantly fighting for
Speaker 1: more resources because we know the needs are so great
Speaker 1: and we've been around a long time, but we're not
Speaker 1: a really super big organization. So we've got but we've
Speaker 1: got thirty eight full time ready to work every day
Speaker 1: on the job people. And if we can't help you directly,
Speaker 1: we're gonna find out who can. And so you know that,
Speaker 1: So we appreciate this opportunity and rolling into one of
Speaker 1: our top priorities is to rebrand our organization and to
Speaker 1: do a better job and raise the resources to do
Speaker 1: a better job of really getting out there to let
Speaker 1: people know how we can support well. I like that.
Speaker 1: The thing about it is that, first of all, I'm
Speaker 1: your friend. I'm ready to help. Okay, I'm ready to
Speaker 1: use my brand because of the fact that I originally
Speaker 1: started money Making Conversations in Houston, Texas, and when I
Speaker 1: moved it to January into Atlanta a year and a
Speaker 1: half ago, the success and reaction has been tremendous. And
Speaker 1: so what I what I'm trying to say to you
Speaker 1: is that if you need my assistant in hosting any
Speaker 1: seminars there, help you promoting any similars there for business.
Speaker 1: I don't know what your relationship with entertainment. I think
Speaker 1: that can also help brand the relationship with the Urban League,
Speaker 1: because you know, Atlanta is the entertainment hub now, there's
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Atlanta generates revenue tremendously in the
Speaker 1: entertainment hub. And so I just feel that, so we are,
Speaker 1: we're excited about this partnership. So we'll need after this call,
Speaker 1: let's get together and snap it out. We'd love to
Speaker 1: have your support because because because I because you know,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of people know. My history is
Speaker 1: entertainment managed Steve Harvey. And right now I have the UH,
Speaker 1: the CMO or Air National Guard, where our marketing brand,
Speaker 1: all of the the fifty States and the three countries
Speaker 1: which include go on, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,
Speaker 1: and watching the d C all the marketing decisions. UH.
Speaker 1: I'm in a position to be a part of when
Speaker 1: it comes to the UH, their social media, digital so
Speaker 1: I have a wide grasp of how this country works.
Speaker 1: From syndication, from television, UH help relaunch Family Feud and
Speaker 1: turn it into the number one game show on television,
Speaker 1: and so talk shows and sitcom. So when I look
Speaker 1: at your brand, and I've been associated with it because
Speaker 1: I would used to always go down to New Orleans
Speaker 1: for the Essence Festival and I but I always even today,
Speaker 1: I've never known what That's why I wanted to bring
Speaker 1: you on the show or your brand on the show,
Speaker 1: so I can get an educated Sean, because if I know,
Speaker 1: then I can help other people know. And I find
Speaker 1: that more people like me need to actually step into
Speaker 1: your building. More people like me actually need to be
Speaker 1: speaking in your building and assisting everybody so they can
Speaker 1: walk back out and go. You know, I tended a
Speaker 1: meeting down at the Urban League and then people go
Speaker 1: Urban leg protested. No no, no, no no, We're talking
Speaker 1: about business money, and we'll have to get Mark Parham,
Speaker 1: who is the director of our Entrepreneurship Center, and some
Speaker 1: of our expert coaches and the entrepreneurs that support us.
Speaker 1: We want to you know, rotate as many of those
Speaker 1: people on your show. Have you come and speak to
Speaker 1: our classes. You know, we were open. We love to
Speaker 1: partner with people. Um we we uh. We partnered with
Speaker 1: all kinds of folks. We got Jackie d who uh
Speaker 1: has started the Small Business Channel. He is an advocate
Speaker 1: for small business and so we plug into his platforms.
Speaker 1: So we're open. We're open. We would love to do that.
Speaker 1: One more thing that I want to mention. I mentioned
Speaker 1: the Startup Accelerator, but we also have a Strategic Growth
Speaker 1: Accelerator for existing businesses that want to grow to the
Speaker 1: next level and us. We bring both of these platforms.
Speaker 1: Individuals that come to the classes put their business plans together.
Speaker 1: We connect people with the capital. We have a partnership
Speaker 1: right now with the Coca Cola company UH supporting some
Speaker 1: of their minority suppliers to grow and build capacity so
Speaker 1: they can get bigger and better contracts. We support people
Speaker 1: up and down across the spectrum, and so you know
Speaker 1: we get it. Well, business is critical. Well that's important
Speaker 1: that you're responding to me like that, because I want
Speaker 1: to help. I have no problem. I know these these
Speaker 1: corporate sponsors want to see engagement on social media. I
Speaker 1: have no problem posting something about if it's sponsible by
Speaker 1: cold good friends of mine. You know, I've been knowing
Speaker 1: them many years. Over there, Stellar Ringer, over there at
Speaker 1: Coca Cola, good friends of mine, and so I know
Speaker 1: that I know that you want to get these sponsors.
Speaker 1: They have to see engagement, they see a reaction that
Speaker 1: they have to be track thing. And so I know
Speaker 1: my brand is available. I'm not trying to I'm not
Speaker 1: charging you anything. I just know that I developed and
Speaker 1: created monimating conversation. They give people of oars, of organizations
Speaker 1: of oars to be able to come on my show,
Speaker 1: tie themselves to my brand, and then strategically communicate the
Speaker 1: needs and the ways that people can communicate with them
Speaker 1: and better their lives. This is all this interview is
Speaker 1: about better in people's lives. You better believe it. That's
Speaker 1: all we want to do with Survanly. It's help people.
Speaker 1: That's our Mantris called its empowering communities, changing lives and
Speaker 1: really helping people change their own lives. People have the power,
Speaker 1: they got the talent, they got the abilities. A lot
Speaker 1: of times they just need a little help opening the door,
Speaker 1: learning something new, but they're ready to go. Our people
Speaker 1: are fired up. You find up up now because of
Speaker 1: the political environment that we're in. Absolutely, let's just talking
Speaker 1: about a situation. There are how does how the Urbanly
Speaker 1: supports individuals who have been previously incarcerated big time, big time.
Speaker 1: We got our start a big start in a big,
Speaker 1: big way under the Obama administration. Back in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eleven, we were awarded a two million dollar contract
Speaker 1: to work with two hundred and fifty um primarily African
Speaker 1: American men, but men and women who were within one
Speaker 1: year of release from incarceration. Urbanly partnered with the transitional centers.
Speaker 1: We go inside pre release and we connect and support
Speaker 1: people to figure out their talents, their goals, their interests,
Speaker 1: and so there are certain industries that are second chance
Speaker 1: friendly and so the goal of the program was to
Speaker 1: help men and women go to college and earn credentials
Speaker 1: before they were released. This had never been done before,
Speaker 1: uh certainly not by the Urban League and not we
Speaker 1: were the only nonprofit in the entire state that was
Speaker 1: awarded those resources. Those individuals did all kinds of things.
Speaker 1: They became our lab technicians, a truck drivers, UM logistics technicians, construction,
Speaker 1: went into the building trades, UM some started their own businesses.
Speaker 1: And our whole focus is on livable wage employment. You
Speaker 1: can't expect people come out anybody, whether you're incarcerated, coming
Speaker 1: out or out here trying to make it every day
Speaker 1: ten dollars to fifteen dollars an hour. It's it's a
Speaker 1: We call those um um building block jobs. But that
Speaker 1: cannot be the end all. Why because it costs too
Speaker 1: much to live for that to be enough. It's just
Speaker 1: not enough. So our goal is to help people arunstackable credentials,
Speaker 1: figure out what you're good at, what you're passionate about.
Speaker 1: We're we've got programs for the film television industry right now.
Speaker 1: We are partnered with Rob Hardy, the director you know
Speaker 1: Rob absolutely miss yass y'all, y'all your own money main conversation, everybody,
Speaker 1: come on my show, Miss Johnson. Well, we've got thirteen
Speaker 1: people right now that we've partnered with Amazing Stories Foundation,
Speaker 1: Urban League, Fulton County and the City of Atlanta Work source.
Speaker 1: Thirteen people are out right now as we speak, working
Speaker 1: on television and movie sets, gaining experience because we've cracked
Speaker 1: open some doors with the help of Rob Hardy, Tyler
Speaker 1: Perry Studios and others. So we're trying to get our
Speaker 1: people into the money making. There's nine billion dollars being
Speaker 1: made right here in our backyards, and not enough of
Speaker 1: our people can get in. It's a tight industry. You've
Speaker 1: got to know people, you've got a network, you gotta
Speaker 1: have skill set, and so you know, we want to
Speaker 1: open up as many doors as we possibly can. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm tasting. I've seen in this conversation the interview you
Speaker 1: your passion and I believe has developed because you hear
Speaker 1: somebody on the or the end of the phone who's
Speaker 1: equally passion, who wants to hear and I want to
Speaker 1: be a part of your of your dream because dreams
Speaker 1: you have, you have to have a lot of people
Speaker 1: in your dream. If you if you have a dream
Speaker 1: the only person to drinks, that's not a good dream.
Speaker 1: That's a night man about dream for everyone. If we're
Speaker 1: with it, we can't do it alone. Everything urbanly does.
Speaker 1: We're doing partnerships. We partnered with the technical colleges, partners businesses,
Speaker 1: We partner with the government, We partner with private sector,
Speaker 1: with the civil rights organizations. We gotta be partners. We
Speaker 1: gotta work together. We can't be divided. We gotta be united. Well,
Speaker 1: you gotta you gotta partner here. Rashan McDonald hosting Money
Speaker 1: Making Conversations. I want to thank you for coming on
Speaker 1: my show. I feel that by being on my show
Speaker 1: you understand who I am a little bit now. Now
Speaker 1: you need to see me in person. Realize I am
Speaker 1: a man or a person that backs up what he says.
Speaker 1: So my man uh Adele Henderson was reaching out to you,
Speaker 1: be setting up a meeting so we can come by
Speaker 1: there and personally see everything and build these dreams.