Winston Salem Urban League – Organization of the Year
The Winston-Salem Urban League empowers and advocates for a diverse community, and promotes socioeconomic progress and parity through education, training, and civic engagement.
Founded through the efforts of James G. Hanes, a local community leader who was concerned about negative race relations, the “Community Relations Project” was formed. This became the Winston-Salem Urban League in 1953 and was chartered in as an affiliate of the National Urban League in 1955.
In December 2015 James Perry was named as its new president. Perry, who relocated to Winston-Salem from New Orleans where he was chief executive of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center for 10 years, plans to continue the programs of the Urban League, which focus on access to jobs, healthcare, education and housing, with a personal goal of making the Winston-Salem Urban League the best in the nation.
