Marquita Stephens becomes first woman to lead Urban League Twin Cities
MINNEAPOLIS -- For Marquita Stephens, being the first woman to serve as President and CEO of the Urban League Twin Cities is a proud moment in her career, but she is focused on the work ahead.
"I'm glad that we are able to celebrate that together in this year that this issue is now behind us," Stephens said.
In front of her, a vision to lead the organization toward its goal of building an equitable society.
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"I've always been involved in the community and I've always been an advocate for the people," Stephens said.
Stephens has more than 20 years of experience working in public service.
The former CEO of the African American Adoption Agency led the rebirth of the education division at the Urban League, opening the Center for the Advancement of Black Families and the Community Caring for its Children program.
"We anchor what we do now in what we did then and we build on that and we stay firm to that history as a movement," Stephens said.
Stephens believes she can lead the organization in a direction that creates lasting change.
"One of the things I want to bring to this community is more of a presence in transitional housing," she said.
Transitional and emergency housing, right in the community, where other resources like those at Northpointe can be accessed.
"We need to start understanding how discrimination shows up in the AI world. We're going to take the lead in those kinds of things," Stephens said.
Stephens has been a visionary her entire career and she promises that won't stop, neither will the core services the organization offers.
The Urban League is sponsoring a Family Day on Aug. 26.