Urban League of NWI celebrates 80 years of human services programming
Since the Urban League of Northwest Indiana launched its entrepreneurship program, leaders have heard 4,257 times how much small businesses across the Region need this service.
That’s the precise number of inquiries tallied by entrepreneurship program leader Bahiyah Shabazz from small business operators with questions that run the gamut from financial to legal to marketing, branding, leadership or planning.
(The Urban League is) here to educate and make sure that
small businesses are thriving. We want to make sure that all the businesses that interact with us are able to
sustain past 10 years.”
The Urban League has responded with a program that offers frequent — and free — entrepreneurship workshops and a resource list providing direction to common services small businesses need. This summer, the entrepreneurship program offered its first small business training, in which a 14-person cohort learned the ins and outs of forming a business identity in a monthlong series called “Becoming a Brand.”
“We’re here to educate and make sure that small businesses are thriving,” said Shabazz, an entrepreneur who runs the Merrillville-based financial and advisory firm Decimalytics. “We want to make sure that all the businesses that interact with us are able to sustain past 10 years.”
The work of the entrepreneurship committee is part of the Urban League’s mission to enhance communities in Lake, Porter and La Porte counties, with services to improve education, financial literacy, health, wellness and leadership for African Americans and other underrepresented groups.
“We are a resource center to support the community,” said Vanessa Allen-McCloud, president and CEO of the Gary-based Urban League. “Supporting businesses fits into the bigger picture, because we’re teaching organizations how to maintain and sustain their businesses.”
Supporting businesses fits into the bigger picture, because
we’re teaching organizations how to maintain and sustain their businesses.”
The entrepreneurship program falls under the financial literacy arm of what the Urban League offers. Shabazz said the effort has reached 175 participants who have attended workshops about topics, including how to start a business, how to apply for grants, understanding the effects of AI and succeeding as a woman in business.
Last year, businesses across the Region hosted the workshops, providing a chance for entrepreneurs to see each other’s stores and offices as they networked and learned, Shabazz said. This year’s events, including the branding series instructed by Cynthia Williams, founder of StartUP Gary, are all taking place at Ivy Tech Community College in Gary.
“We want to ensure that we’re not coming in to monopolize helping businesses in this area,” Shabazz said, “but to partner and collaborate with other organizations who are also assisting small business owners.”
Partnering, collaborating and providing resources is what the Urban League is all about, as a human services agency that’s now celebrating its 80th year, Allen-McCloud said. Partnerships allow the organization to support a variety of businesses, even beyond those taking advantage of entrepreneurship resources.
The businesses involved with Northwest Learning Labs are one example. While designed to offer summer education to students entering first through ninth grades — with 800 participating this year — the Learning Labs also provide stipends to local businesses that offer enrichment opportunities. After morning classes, students go on excursions, often visiting businesses that offer swimming, outdoor recreation or animal-focused experiences.
Learning Labs may be “more for kids in a sense,” said Yolanda Davis, Urban League board vice chairwoman. But the positive effects spread beyond a short-term boost for students.
“I do think that’s helping enrich their lives for business,” said Davis, who also is the community reinvestment act officer at Centier Bank.
Moving forward, the Urban League plans to increase its focus on young professionals ages 21 to 40, Allen-McCloud said, to ensure more mentorship and passing down of skills in leadership and professionalism.
The organization also is rebranding its annual symposium. The focus — and name — of the event now will center on leadership.
“Because of the national and state mandates to dismantle diversity equity and inclusion (programs), we don’t want any of those words to deter organizations from attending and learning how to better resolve conflict, develop leadership and provide opportunities,” Allen-McCloud said.
The rebrand is intended to improve understanding of the Urban League’s mission, which goes beyond those three words, to focus on leadership, development and community, Davis said.
“We want to make sure that we align with the climate that we’re in,” she said. “The most important part is to make sure that we’re connected and continue to be connected with our partners.” •
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