I WANT TO ... About What We Do News & Events Affiliate Movement Support Us DONATE Our Team We have an incredible team of leaders that are dedicated to empowering communities and fighting inequality Executive Leadership Executive Staff 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. Donald Cravins Jr. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Donald “Don” Cravins, Jr. joined the National Urban League in 2021 as EVP and COO. In this capacity, he is responsible for working with President Morial to set and maintain goals, monitor work, and evaluate results to ensure departmental and organizational objectives and operating requirements are met and are in line with the needs and mission of NUL. Don also leads NUL’s corporate diversity, equity and inclusivity initiatives and assists with NUL’s strong functioning of and relationships with Urban League affiliates and the NUL Board of Directors. Don brings a wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining NUL, Don served as Vice President of Policy and External Affairs at Charter Communications. Don’s other past experiences include serving as Senior Vice President of Policy for the National Urban League, Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and a member of the Louisiana State Legislature. A graduate of Louisiana State University and the Southern University Law Center, Don is also a Major in the Army National Guard. Dennis G. Serrette Senior Vice President & Chief Partnerships Officer Dennis joined the National Urban League (NUL) in 2007 serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Partnership Officer. In this capacity, he leads the team whose focus is the strategic planning and execution of the organizational fundraising plan, recruitment and day to day relationship management of the Board of Trustees, and key coalition partnerships in support of the organizational mission. Dennis brings more than 30 years of success in board and fund development, business development, strategic planning, and sales management. Prior to joining the League, Dennis served as Vice President, Corporate Development at United Way of New York City where he was responsible for overall management and growth of their $65 million annual campaign and played a pivotal role in the fundraising administration and donor relations for the September 11th Fund which raised over $560 million. Joi O. Chaney Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy Joi is a domestic legal policy expert, political strategist, and former Chief of Staff to United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. After leaving the Senate, she relaunched J.O.I. Strategies, a consulting firm that develops strategies for organizations and companies seeking to achieve Justice, Opportunity, and Inclusion for America's underserved communities, beginning with women and persons of color. Previously, Joi served as Director of Equal Pay Today, a Project of Equal Rights Advocates, and Senior Policy Counsel at Equal Rights Advocates where she focused on strategies to close the long-standing gender and racial wage gap and engage new constituencies in the fight for equal pay. Over a twenty-year career, Joi has held senior roles in the Obama Administration, as a senior advisor to the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (Senate DPC), and the American Constitution Society for Law & Policy. Joi began her career at the former Baach Robinson & Lewis PLLC and the Democratic National Committee. She is a graduate of Howard University and Harvard Law School. Danielle Cooper Daughtry General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs Most recently, Danielle was the Governance and External Affairs Officer and Secretary to the Board of Trustees for The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and has served in leadership roles for over 20 years in public interest, non-profit, law firm, and in-house counsel positions. Her versatility and breadth of experience have made her a dynamic leader, working to provide strategic problem-solving advice to her diverse clients. Before joining Cooper Union, Daughtry was the Chief Counsel for the 2016 Democratic National Convention Committee. In this role, Daughtry was responsible for the legal aspects of the design, planning, implementation, execution, and breakdown of the Democratic National Convention. Daughtry spent over a decade serving in the in-house legal department of MetLife Group, Inc. In this role, she managed federal and state litigations around the nation and worked on insurance, banking, securities, and other areas of the corporation. Daughtry also spent considerable time working on Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion as the Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee. 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. Calvin Harris Senior Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer Calvin is a seasoned, experienced executive, having just served as the CFO of Baltimore City Community College, along with prior roles at non-profits such as the United Nations Foundation, NeighborWorks America, Legal Services Corporation, and Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. Calvin is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta and has served as an auditor, controller, forensic accountant, consultant, and CFO for several organizations over a 25-year career. 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 is a Senior Vice President at the National Urban League, and a member of the League’s Executive Leadership Team. Cy Richardson previously served as Vice President for Housing and Community Development where he promoted asset building and wealth creation for people of color in urban America. Hal Smith Senior Vice President, Education, Youth Development & Health As the Senior Vice President for Education, Youth Development and Health, Hal leads the organization’s programmatic, advocacy, policy and research work in those areas. Across his career in the higher education, community and nonprofit sectors, Hal has focused on issues of educational opportunity, access and excellence for historically underserved communities wherever teaching, learning and development take place. Rhonda Spears Bell Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications Rhonda Spears Bell is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the National Urban League in New York, NY. In this capacity as the chief marketing officer, she is responsible for the strategic development and execution of all marketing and digital strategies, media relations, and major conferences and events, as well as solidifying the Urban League’s brand identity nationwide. Ms. Bell is a proven communications and marketing executive with more than 25 years of experience in various areas including: strategic planning, media relations, corporate communications, brand marketing, content management, digital marketing, television and radio production, special events, government relations and community relations. 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 Senior Vice President, Human Resources for the National Urban League. Ms. Jackson has overall responsibility for the Human Resources function in the League’s national office, and manages programs and activities in corporate diversity, employment, and leadership development. Wanda joined the League after a stint at A Better Chance, Inc. as the Director, Business and Professional Partnership Program. There, she worked with corporations placing academically talented minority students in full-time jobs and internships. Departments Programs 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. Office of General Counsel Affiliate Services Partnerships & Advancement Finance Talent Management Marketing & Communications The Washington Bureau Strategy, Innovation and Technology National Urban League 80 Pine Street, 9th Floor | New York,NY10005 Phone:212-558-5300 Careers at NUL | Contact Us | Media Inquiries | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Terms of Use ©2021 NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE Stay Connected to the Movement SIGN UP