Our Team
We have an incredible team of leaders that are dedicated to empowering communities and fighting inequality
Executive Leadership
Marc Morial
President and Chief Executive Officer
Marc H. Morial is President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation's largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization. As Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, Morial led New Orleans’ renaissance, and left office with a 70% approval rating. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and African American Studies, he also holds a law degree from the Georgetown University.
Dennis G. Serrette
Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer
Dennis serves as the Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer of the National Urban League. In this role, he leads the National Urban League’s Partnerships & Advancement arm and the organization's fundraising efforts. Day-to-day, Serrette manages the relationships with the Board of Trustees and key coalition partnerships that support the organizational mission. Before joining the National Urban League, Dennis served as Vice President, Corporate Development at United Way of New York City, responsible for the overall management and growth of their $65 million annual campaign. He attended Pace University for undergraduate studies and completed his graduate studies with an MBA in Finance from Stetson University.
Sidney H. Evans, Jr.
Senior Vice President for Finance & Chief Financial Officer
Most recently, Mr. Evans served almost nine years as the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration at Morgan State University, in Baltimore, MD. As the EVP, Mr. Evans was responsibility for the management of the financial, physical and human assets of the University.
Mr. Sidney H. Evans Jr is the founder and CEO of Madisan Mackenzie, LLC, a management consulting firm founded in 2009. The firm’s primary focus is the Higher Education and Not for Profit markets. The firm’s capabilities are financial organizational development, corporate finance and asset management, endowment management and financial strategic planning.
Previously, Mr. Evans served as the Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer for Howard University from 2005-2009. Prior to Howard University, Mr. Evans served as the Vice President for Finance at Dillard University (LA). Mr. Evans brings with him over 39 years as a financial management professional in the Corporate, Banking, Government, Not-for-Profit and Higher Education industries. Additionally, he served as a director for a portfolio company of a Private Equity firm. Mr. Evans has issued and managed debt and equity transactions totaling over $1.5 billion, including both corporate and municipal debt instruments.
Prior to becoming a Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Evans served as a Manager and Assistant Controller with Unisys Corporation, working on the Corporate CFO’s staff. Mr. Evans started his career as a commercial banking officer with Citibank and Wachovia (Wells Fargo) bank.
Mr. Evans graduated from Deerfield Academy and later from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he received a BA degree in Economics. He received his MBA degree from the University of Pittsburgh, with a finance concentration. He has an investment certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Danielle Cooper Daughtry
General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs
Jennifer A. Scott serves as the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Urban Civil Rights Museum (UCRM) expected to open in New York in 2025. UCRM will be New York’s first museum dedicated to civil rights – and one of the first in the nation to focus on the history of civil rights in the North. Prior to joining the National Urban League, she served as the Senior Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. She also served as co-chair of the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee, appointed in 2020 by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. She holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Tara Murray
Executive Director of the National Urban League's Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy
Tara Murray is a distinguished civil and human rights attorney and advocate, currently serving as the Executive Director of the National Urban League's Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy. With a rich background in law and social justice, she holds degrees from Howard University, Harvard Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center. Tara's career encompasses significant roles, including time spent as a public defender, law instructor, legal director of an international human rights NGO, and most recently a tenure in the Biden-Harris Administration as a White House Fellow and later as Special Assistant to President Biden and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Her work is marked by a steadfast commitment to racial justice, equity, and civil rights, both domestically and internationally. As a mother of three, she integrates her professional expertise with personal values, making her a dynamic leader and a passionate advocate for underserved communities.
Jennifer Scott
Executive Director of the National Urban League's Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy
Tara Murray is a distinguished civil and human rights attorney and advocate, currently serving as the Executive Director of the National Urban League's Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy. With a rich background in law and social justice, she holds degrees from Howard University, Harvard Law School, and Georgetown University Law Center. Tara's career encompasses significant roles, including time spent as a public defender, law instructor, legal director of an international human rights NGO, and most recently a tenure in the Biden-Harris Administration as a White House Fellow and later as Special Assistant to President Biden and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Her work is marked by a steadfast commitment to racial justice, equity, and civil rights, both domestically and internationally. As a mother of three, she integrates her professional expertise with personal values, making her a dynamic leader and a passionate advocate for underserved communities.
Jerika L. Richardson
Senior Vice President for Equitable Justice & Strategic Initiatives
Jerika L. Richardson is Senior Vice President for Equitable Justice & Strategic Initiatives at the National Urban League. She leads the organization’s advocacy, public education, and strategic work on civic engagement, police reform, criminal justice reform, and other justice related areas. Previously, Ms. Richardson was Deputy Executive Director and the Senior Advisor & Secretary to the Board for the nation’s largest independent police oversight agency, the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board.
She has also served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Counsel to the Mayor of New York City and Special Advisor to the Mayor for media relations, criminal justice, and public safety planning. Before working in City Hall, Ms. Richardson was the Senior Spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and a Field Producer & Off-Air Reporter for ABC News. She holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in English from Spelman College.
Herman Lessard
Senior Vice President, Affiliate Services
Herman Lessard serves as the Senior Vice President of Affiliate Services for the National Urban League. He is responsible for leading the “Hub of the Wheel” for the affiliate network inclusive of all constituent auxiliary groups. Lessard is a veteran Urban Leaguer with self-directed, results-oriented track record of mending fragmented organizational structures into focused participatory and collaborative environments in which high performance teams become a common goal.
Cy Richardson
Senior Vice President for Economics and Housing Programs
Cy Richardson serves as the Senior Vice President for Programs at the National Urban League and a member of the Urban League’s executive leadership team. In this role, he leads the National Urban League’s housing and workforce programs and entrepreneurship center. Before the National Urban League, he worked as a community economic development practitioner, legislative analyst, and researcher for various city and state agencies. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduate degrees in urban planning and political science from Pratt Institute, the City University of New York Graduate Center, and Georgetown University.
Hal Smith
Senior Vice President, Education, Youth Development & Health
Dr. Hal Smith is the Senior Vice President for Health, Education, and Youth Development and Programs Department with the National Urban League. In this role, Hal leads the organization’s programmatic, advocacy, engagement, policy, and research work. Before joining the National Urban League, Hal held teaching, administrative, policy, and advocacy positions with the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, the City College of New York, the College of the Holy Cross, Northern Illinois University, Lesley University, and Harvard University. He holds a B.B.A. in Human Resource Administration from Temple University, an M.A. in Africana studies from the State University of New York at Albany, and an Ed.M. and Ed.D. in Community Education and Lifelong Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Rhonda Spears Bell
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Rhonda Spears Bell serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the National Urban League. In this role, she leads the strategic development and execution of all marketing strategies, media relations, major conferences, and events. Prior to joining the National Urban League, she served as the Director of Communications and Marketing at The United States Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., and the Director of Communications for the City of New Orleans and former New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Michael Miller
Senior Vice President for Strategy, Innovation and Technology, and Chief Technology Officer
Michael Miller is Chief Technology Officer/CIO and Senior Vice President for Strategy, Innovation and Technology for the National Urban League. He leads the technology and facilities operations for NUL including Web services, software development, unified communications, vendor management and systems administration. Mike also leads our annual conference AV architecture and implementation. He is responsible for capital budgeting and project management for both NUL offices. Mr. Miller spearheaded the development of our IamEmpowered platform which hosts multiple software applications and data storage. Mr. Miller brings to the National Urban League a diverse set of skills and executive experience in project management, operations, sales, strategic planning and business development. Mr. Miller is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Wanda Jackson, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Wanda Jackson is the National Urban League's Senior Vice President, Human Resources, and Chief Talent Officer. In her role, she manages the League’s national leadership development programs. She exposes young talent to the non-profit sector through the highly competitive Urban League Summer Internship Program and the Business Executive Exchange Program. Wanda is a graduate of Boston University's College of Communication, received an M.S. in Human Resources Management from the New School for Social Research, and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources credential from the Human Resources Certification Institute.
Departments
The National Urban League’s Programs department is the primary vehicle through which the granting of funds, training and technical assistance is provided to local Urban League affiliates in the areas of Housing & Community Development, Entrepreneurship & Business Development, Economic Development, Education and Youth Development, Health & Quality of Life.
Our purpose is to assess, and understand, the economic and social factors that negatively impact the communities we serve. Our departments design, pilot, and implement, programs to address our concerns through the work of our affiliate network. We also provide our affiliates, who deliver direct services to the local community, with granting funds, training, technical support, organizational assessments, knowledge sharing and networking.
The Office of the General Counsel is responsible for the management of all legal issues affecting the National Urban League. Our mission is to educate our staff on the laws, policies and procedures applicable to National Urban League activities, prevent legal problems and solve those that occur, minimize legal risks and costs efficiently, facilitate transactions, and provide timely and thoughtful advice to support our work.
The Affiliate Services department is the principal liaison between the National Urban League and the 90 Urban League affiliates including: Association of Executives (CEOs), National Council of Affiliate Board Chairpersons, National Council of Urban League Guilds and the National Urban League Young Professionals (NULYP).
The Partnerships & Advancement department is the fundraising division of the National Urban League, involved in building financial support and sponsorship for the organization’s direct services, advocacy and public policy research.
The Finance department maintains and monitors the fiscal operations of the National Urban League, working with Urban League's Board of Directors to establish the annual budget and oversee all fiscal operations.
The Talent Management department is responsible for talent acquisition, training, development and management of benefits for all National Urban League employees. The department also fosters new partnerships that expand economic opportunities and enhance diversity practices within corporate America.
The Marketing & Communications department is responsible for the brand marketing, public relations strategy and media outreach efforts of the National Urban League and Affiliate offices. The department also coordinates and facilitates the Event Marketing and Publications divisions. The Publications Division publishes, distributes and oversees the sale of several seminal National Urban League publications and reports, including: The State of Black America, the To Be Equal column, Opportunity Journal and Urban Influence magazines.
The Washington Bureau is the Washington, DC-based public policy research and advocacy arm for the National Urban League, focusing on policy and advocacy goals grounded in the local program experiences of the Urban League’s more than 90 affiliates throughout the U.S. The Bureau also produces the annual Legislative Policy Conference (LPC) which brings Urban Leaguers to Capitol Hill for two days of legislative advocacy.
The Strategy, Innovation and Technology department is responsible for managing the National Urban League's "I am EMPOWERED" platform (websites, online community and social mobilization), technology and on and offsite facilities.