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CEO Nikki Gaskin-Capehart laid out her long-term community impact plans that include affordable housing and a potential national presence to the Tampa Bay area.
The Pinellas County Urban League and the Hillsborough County Urban League have become one. The two organizations recently merged to create the Urban League Florida Suncoast.
According to its website, its mission is to “enable and empower African Americans and others who are underserved in our communities to achieve their highest human potential and secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights.”
Before merging, the Hillsborough County Urban League had been operating in Tampa since 1922 and the Pinellas County Urban League in St. Petersburg since 1978.
The expansion not only covers Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, but as far south as Ft. Myers.
“That’s one of the reasons we became the Urban League of Florida Suncoast,” Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, the president and CEO of Urban League Florida Suncoast, tells Power Broker. “Because we just wouldn't be in the Tampa Bay region, we would be even further south and further north.”
An official launch event announcing the merger took place on Sept. 22 at Stetson Tampa Law Center. Power Broker Media were among the many supporters in attendance.
Both chapters had previously discussed coming together to develop a larger regional urban league. Gaskin-Capehart stepped in as CEO and president of the Pinellas Urban League in 2023, in which merger talks resumed. At the time, the Urban League of Hillsborough County was looking for leadership opportunities after the passing of their interim CEO Stanley Gray.
Capehart had the opportunity to connect with the Hillsborough Urban League’s board about merging. Both chapters eventually received their approval from the National Urban League to come together as a regional affiliate.
Localizing National Initiatives
Each of Gaskin-Capehart’s initiatives focus on localizing national programs the Urban League already has in place, beginning with national partnerships.
Urban League Florida Suncoast is partnering with the INROADS Internship Program. The career development program connects underrepresented and minority students with paid internships at Fortune 500 companies and major corporations.
Gaskin-Capehart is an alumni of the program and worked as a banking intern for Barnett Bank, which eventually merged into Bank of America. She shared her excitement to bring the program back to Tampa Bay and expose it to a new generation of students.
“We are now partnering with this national organization to bring those services back to Tampa and we’ll be offering it in conjunction with Stetson Tampa Law Center,” she said.
Three Major Developments
Other community initiatives Gaskin-Capehart says she is focused on with Urban League Florida Suncoast are housing, education and business development.
“Through the National Urban League, there are developer accelerator academies that will help our churches to become affordable housing providers and developers on their sites,” says Gaskin-Capehart.
Gaskin-Capehart shared three major commercial developments the urban league is pursuing. The first is a redevelopment of their current headquarters on 31st St. N in St. Pete into housing and commercial space. The organization is also working with Pinellas county schools on a housing development project in Clearwater and a potential new headquarters in the historic Deuces area in a partnership with the City of St. Petersburg.
“We’ll be looking for more to do in Hillsborough,” added Gaskin-Capehart.
Work, Family and Entrepreneurial Initiatives
Another focus area for the new urban league is keeping communities engaged year-round in civic activities through initiatives such as Reclaim Your Vote and Sound the Trumpet.
“These are all ways that we continue to ask our community to hold their family members accountable and if you know good friends, to make sure people are keeping their registration and voting status current and voting in every election,” Gaskin-Capehart says.
There is also intergenerational connection through the Urban League’s newest group, Urban Influencers, which connects entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals. The initiative is tailored for those between the ages of 41-55 but adults of all ages are welcomed. An interest meeting takes place on Oct. 13 via Zoom.
And for the younger crowd, there is Project Ready, a career and colleague initiative for middle and high school schools.
“No matter what age you are, there’s a place for you in the Urban League movement,” she says.
For families, the Urban League Florida Suncoast is offering Family Transformation Friday, an initiative that was already practiced in Pinellas League that is being pulled over to the regional organization. This will be a quarterly event that allows organizations to bring all of their services at one family-fun night event that will include Spades, line dancing, food trucks, and music. Services offered will include childcare, a free clothes closet and workforce and entrepreneurship opportunities.
The urban league also has an initiative called the Tampa Bay Anchors Urban Alliance. The alliance brings in corporate entities who are looking to hire and do workforce training for job openings they have.
Hillsborough county leaders say they are ready to help get the work done and have backed their support with funding.
“We’ve agreed to $72,000 dollars we’re investing come October 1 into this program, into the new merger, and that’s a win, win for the organization,” Hillsborough County Commissioner Gwen Myers said at the Sept. 22 event as reported by Spectrum Bay News 9. “To merge and have some funding.”
Bringing a National Convention to Tampa Bay
In addition to community initiatives, Gaskin-Capehart and her team want to bring a National Urban League convention to the Tampa Bay area by 2030. The urban league is working with Visit Tampa Bay to make the conference happen.
If executed, it will be the first national Urban League conference hosted in Tampa Bay. Gaskin-Capehart says the convention will bring massive economic impact and exposure to the city with its Small Business Saturday, the family and youth community day, empowerment opportunities and other events that the national conference could bring.
“I want the community to know as part of the expansion that is one of our priorities … is to be able to bring that type of a conference to the area,” she says.
Keeping Community Engaged
Gaskin-Capehart says she wants to hear from the community on a daily basis about their needs and how the league can better serve them.
“We are engaging people to give us their ideas on things they would like to see from their Urban League and just keep the lines of communication open, it’s so important.”
To stay connected with Urban League Florida Suncoast and up to date with their activities you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook and their website.
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