A former Ohio State University track star who also served as president of the Columbus Board ofEducation will be the new head of the Columbus Urban League.
Stephanie Hightower will become the president and chief executive officer in mid-August, theleague's board of directors announced yesterday. She'll be the first woman to serve in the post inthe league's 93-year history.
"Stephanie comes with the right mix of skills," board chairman John Stephen said. "She came intothe intensive (executive search) process with a vision and passion for the agency."
Hightower replaces Eddie Harrell, who left the league in June after five years to become anexecutive at the Radio One broadcast company.
Harrell had begun the process of decreasing the league's dependency on government grants, whichare tougher to come by in this economic environment, Stephen said. Part of Hightower's job will bedeveloping other sources of funding to continue its mission.
The league's mission is "empowering African-Americans and disadvantaged persons and familieswith life-changing strategies to reach and maintain self-reliance, opportunity and civil rights,"according to its website. It runs programs in job training, early education, housing assistance andother areas.
Part of her job will be increasing the league's public profile, Hightower said. Once she takesoffice, she plans on meeting with community leaders to discuss their views of the league'sfuture.
"A lot of people don't know exactly what the Urban League does anymore," she said.
Hightower, 53, of the Near East Side, first gained fame locally as a world-class hurdler at OhioState in the late 1970s. She is the current president of USA Track & Field, the sport'snational governing body.
Her first job outside of running was in communication and development at the Urban League in thelate 1980s, she said.
She went on to serve as president of the Columbus school board from 2001 to 2005.
She will leave her post as vice president of institutional advancement at Columbus College ofArt and Design. She has loved her time at the school, she said. But the opportunity to help thecommunity with the Urban League was too good to pass up.
"This is one of the organizations ... that can make people's dreams come true," she said.