News

The Broward County Chapter of United Nations Association (UNA-Broward) - a national membership organization devoted to strengthening the U.S.-UN relationship through public education and advocacy – honored Urban League of Broward County President and CEO Dr. Germaine Smith-Baugh at the 2019 UN Day Global Leadership Award Luncheon on October 22, 2019 at the Signature Grand in Davie. This year’s theme, “Our Plant. Our Future” focused on the UN’s commitment to the climate crisis. 

In celebration of the National Black Business Month, The Mosaic Group (www.mosaicgroup.co), in partnership with the Urban League of Broward County (www.ulbroward.org), will host the 9TH Annual South Florida Black Economic Forum (SFBEF) on Friday, August 16, 2019 at the Urban League of Broward County located at 560 NW 27TH Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Urban League of Broward County has named Sidney C. Calloway as the new Chair of its Board of Directors and welcomed three new board members.  The new Board Members will help lead the organization in the coming year as it works to advance the lives of African-Americans and others in historically underserved communities by providing them with more access to education, entrepreneurship, jobs, justice, housing, and health.

Compassion, honesty, accountability, and, most of all, trust is all at stake for us in Broward County in the wake of the recent assault on 15-year-old Delucca “Lucca” Rolle by Broward Sheriff’s deputies. We, as a community, must take on the hard topics surrounding the issue of violence in all its forms in order to safeguard our way of life.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla, (March 11, 2019) – On February 22, 2019, the Urban League of Broward County won the Non-Profit Organization of the Year Award in the Collective Impact for Youth Category at the 9th Annual Community Care Plan Non-Profit Awards presented by Signature Grand and hosted by 2-1-1 Broward.

Fort Lauderdale, FL (Nov. 19, 2018) – The Urban League of Broward County has received a $25,000 grant from the Florida Panther’s Foundation to support the agency’s work in helping minority and veteran entrepreneurs create thriving businesses.

Fort Lauderdale, FL (Nov. 7, 2018) – The Urban League of Broward County is thankful for the massive voter turnout in yesterday’s election and for all who ran for office and worked hard to make a difference in our community. The organization congratulates all the candidates who won at the local, state and national races. The agency also congratulates the organizers of the successful local and state ballot measures, especially the passage of Amendment 4, which restores the voting rights of ex-felons.

Minority-owned businesses in Broward County now have a new way to gain access to capital. The Capital Access Fund (CAF) is a lending initiative which provides capital and business education for minority entrepreneurs. It’s available through a partnership between Morgan Stanley, National Urban League Urban Empowerment Fund, National Development Council, and the Urban League of Broward County.

Minority-owned businesses in Broward County now have access to a new pool of capital. The Capital Access Fund (CAF) is a lending initiative which provides capital and business education for minority entrepreneurs. It’s available through a partnership between Morgan Stanley, National Urban League Urban Empowerment Fund, National Development Council, and the Urban League of Broward County.

April 26, 2018, Fort Lauderdale, FL. The Citi Foundation announced that Urban League of Broward County (ULBC) was selected as the recipient of a $500,000 grant as part of the 2018 Community Progress Makers Fund. The Fund is a $20 million, two-year initiative by the Citi Foundation to support high-impact community organizations that are driving economic opportunities in our communities by bringing together residents, nonprofits, businesses, and municipal agencies. 

There’s a new way for minority-owned businesses in Broward County to get access to capital. The new Capital Access Fund (CAF) is a lending initiative which provides capital and business education for minority entrepreneurs. It’s available through a partnership between Morgan Stanley, National Urban League Urban Empowerment Fund, National Development Council, and the Urban League of Broward County.

Across Broward County, Florida, minority-owned businesses are getting access to much-needed capital through the new Capital Access Fund (CAF) – a new lending initiative which provides capital and business education for minority entrepreneurs. It became available in November, 2017 through a partnership between Morgan Stanley, National Urban League Urban Empowerment Fund, National Development Council, and the Urban League of Broward County.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (March 8, 2018) – Broward College and the Urban League of Broward County are proud to announce they were awarded $3,187,500, the largest amount ever awarded for a single project, by the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for its Building the CORE (Critical Occupation Response through Education) program.

(Fort Lauderdale Florida – November 17, 2017) – On November 28, 2017, Morgan Stanley, National Urban League Urban Empowerment Fund (NUL-UEF), National Development Council (NDC), and the Urban League of Broward County (ULBC) will launch a historic initiative to provide minority-owned businesses in Florida with greater access to capital through the Capital Access Fund (CAF) – a lending initiative which provides access to capital and business education for minority entrepreneurs. Through the partnership, CAF and the ULBC’s Entrepreneurship Center will expand its efforts to promote sustainability, create jobs and build…

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL September 6, 2017 – Based on the severity of the impending storm (Hurricane Irma) and to ensure safety for all, the Urban League of Broward County offices will be closed on Thursday, September 7, 2017, until it can safely regain access.

Urban League of Broward County Issues Statement about Charlottesville, Virginia Hate Rally

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – July 28, 2017 – Dr. Germaine Smith-Baugh, president and CEO of Urban League of Broward County, was recognized in June for her community work in helping to uplift families out of economic hardship. She also celebrated co-founding a national organization that promotes the personal growth and development of African-American women.

As a teenager, Keel Russell still remembers looking around his low-income community in Broward County and realizing how tough it was to succeed financially. He wanted to avoid all the dreaded challenges holding back so many of his family friends and relatives. His ticket out: become an entrepreneur.

Social injustice continues to remain a big issue. You can see it across our community in the widening gaps between the rich and poor, the unequal distribution of government resources, and the disenfranchisement of individuals and entire groups from the political process.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. (March 24, 2017) – The Urban League of Broward County has been selected to build affordable single-family homes as part of a new Board of County Commissioners project to construct more homes for qualifying very-low to moderate income households across Broward County.

The Urban League of Broward County proudly participated in drafting a new School Board of Broward County policy to provide fair and equitable distribution of procurement and contracting opportunities to our local diverse business community. Germaine Smith-Baugh, Ed.D., CEO and President of the Urban League of Broward County, was a key part of the 30-member Disparity Study Work Group that reviewed, prioritized and provided feedback to the District’s new Supplier Diversity Outreach Program, known as Policy 3330.

“Yes, we can…yes, we did.” These were the bookend pledges of Barack Obama -- the words he used to describe the start, and now the end, of an extraordinary eight-year presidency full of expectations that he'd deliver on hope and change for Americans, especially people of color.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – November 21, 2016 – The Urban League of Broward County recently held its annual stakeholders meeting in which a panel of top Florida CEOs discussed the importance of hiring more small and minority-owned businesses for public and private projects in order to help diversify, innovate and strengthen local economies.

In the past three years, the rate of African American without health insurance has dropped by nearly 50 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That amounted to about three million adults gaining medical coverage -- many for the first time in many years. Those are astounding figures.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. (November 1, 2016) – The Urban League of Broward County, a nonprofit human services organization, raised more than $300,000 during its Sept. 24 Red Gala, presented by BankUnited, to support the agency’s education, jobs, housing, and health programs.

Fort Lauderdale, FL – October 27, 2016 – Urban League of Broward County welcomes three new board members to help the organization focus on its mission of securing economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights for families and individuals across the community. 

Education is a key component of social-economic success in our nation. Yet gaining a quality education isn’t so easy for many African-American children who end up in some of our lowest-performing schools. One way to change that is to attract more diverse, empathic teachers into our school system so they can serve as good role models to our children and make education more engaging, fun and practical to daily life.

The Urban League of Broward County offers our condolences to the police officers killed and wounded in Dallas last night following a peaceful demonstration triggered by this week’s officer-involved fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights.

Wow! It has been 20 years since I donned my one good interview suit to convince the CEO, Don Bowen and the Vice President, Blanche Templeton to hire me. It has been 20 years since I walked through our doors with a small box with decorative items for my first "real" office. It has been 20 years today that I can say I made the BEST decision to join the Urban League team.