Our Movement

Established in 1910, The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, is the nation's oldest and largest community- based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. Locally, the Urban League of San Diego County, founded in 1953, provides direct services to more than 7,000 people, annually, countywide through programs, advocacy and research.

Our Mission

The mission of the Urban League of San Diego County is assisting African Americans and other underserved people in San Diego County to achieve social and economic equality through advocacy, bridge building, program services and research.

Our Strategy

The Urban League employs a five point strategy, tailored to local needs, in order to implement the mission of our movement.

• Education and Youth Empowerment: Ensuring that the children in our programs are well educated and prepared for economic self-reliance in the 21st century through college scholarships, financial aid preparation, early childhood literacy, youth and college leadership programs.

• Economic Empowerment: Empowering our constituents in attaining economic self-sufficiency through job training, career planning, career fairs with empowerment zones, good jobs, homeownership, entrepreneurship and wealth accumulation.

• Health and Quality of Life Empowerment: Working to build healthy and safe communities to eliminate health disparities through prevention, HIV/AIDS awareness, healthy eating, fitness, as well as ensuring access and complete access to affordable healthcare for all people.

• Civic Engagement and Leadership Empowerment: Empowering our constituents to take an active role in determining the direction, quality of life, public policy and leadership in their communities by full participation as citizens and voters, as well as through active community service and leadership development.

• Civil Rights and Racial Justice Empowerment: Promoting and ensuring our civil rights by actively working to eradicate all barriers to equal participation in the all aspects of American society, whether political, economic, social, educational or cultural.