Amid a difficult political climate, the Urban League is continuing to climb the mountain of hope, bringing in as many people from the community as they can with new changes to continue their mission of enabling adults in Eastern Mass. to overcome racial and social barriers, economic inequities, and sexual and domestic violence, and take advantage of employment and economic development opportunities.

During its January 2025 annual meeting, the Urban League’s Eastern Massachusetts president, Rahsaan Hall, shared some of the new changes happening within the organization, along with its 2024 accomplishments.

The first new changes include the addition of two new staff members, Veronica Parsloe and Marilyn Machuca.

“Veronica Parsloe joins as director of development & marketing, bringing a wealth of experience in fundraising and marketing to strengthen ULEM’s community engagement and development efforts, [while] Marilyn Machuca will serve as project ready coordinator, leveraging her expertise in youth programs and workforce development to help prepare young people for college, career and life,” said Hall.

ULEM’s board of directors also welcomed two new members, Joyce Linehan, director of special projects at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Shabnam Mashmasarmi, an attorney and partner at Zaheer Law Group, PLLC, with a focus on real estate and business law.

“[The] two new members … bring a wealth of experience and expertise across various fields, from business management to law, real estate, government and higher education,” Hall said.

Lastly, Christopher Scranton, director of nonprofit and government partnerships at Jobcase, will also be joining the executive committee of the board of directors as the chair of the development committee.

ULEM is also expanding its programming to include the National Urban League project ready mentoring and a college/career readiness program.

“Project ready is [our] youth and education program that provides mentoring and tutoring and college or career preparation for all of the young people in our different youth programs, so both our YODA — Youth Opportunity Developing Achievers — STEM program [which] we run here in Nubian Square and the program that we’re partnering with in Brockton, the Empower Yourself Program, fall under our project ready umbrella,” Hall said.

The YODA program, he said, has served over 10 middle and high school students and engaged them with critical STEM skills in areas like drones, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.

“Notably, students reported a 20% increase in interest in pursuing STEM careers, supported by direct learning and mentorship. We’ve also expanded our youth STEM program into Brockton and partnered with Empower Yourself to work with their students on drones and financial literacy,” he said.

Hall also shared that they are expanding their entrepreneurship programming to launch an incubator program, along with some of their other accomplishments in 2024.

“The MSIMBO, the ULEM Coding Bootcamp program, graduated 10 candidates in advanced web development and generative AI integration, and alumni have launched successful ventures, said Hall, adding, “The Urban Tech Jobs Program 2.0, in partnership with Franklin Cummings Tech, helped 35 individuals secure certificates in high-demand technical trades, including electric vehicle maintenance and HVAC technology.”

Hall also reported that their Rework for America Alliance engaged 26 employers and 13 of the ABCD MassHire staff in adopting skill-based hiring practices, helping to create more equitable workforce opportunities.

“[We]secured funding and partnerships to utilize programs like Google AI Essentials and Verizon Skill Forward to provide innovative AI, data analytics, and cybersecurity training that will engage over 200 participants,” he said.

Their NextStage MBE Academy guided 25 minority business owners in scaling their enterprises, graduating multiple cohorts, and contributing to economic growth in their communities.

“[We are] currently preparing for the launch of First Stage, an MBE incubator program that will serve candidates,” Hall said.

He said they launched the holistic health access initiative in November 2024, in partnership with the city of Boston and Lyft and with funding from Walgreens, to provide free rides to health-related appointments and activities for seniors in Boston during the winter month.

To date, they have provided over 700 rides for nearly 400 unique riders to doctor’s appointments, senior centers, community health centers and grocery stores, said Hall.

The organization also launched their health equity initiative.

Thanks to a generous grant from Takeda Pharmaceutical, they launched their health equity initiative, which includes their Black male mental health initiative. It has made mental health resources available to men of color and Black men in particular, and through a partnership with William James College, it is recruiting more Black men into the mental health profession through its Behavioral Health Service Corps certificate program and degree programs, he said.

Hall also shared that recently the organization partnered with AdMeTech to host a virtual prostate cancer awareness event on Jan. 30, featuring himself, state Sen. Liz Miranda, David Einstein, MD, and Faina Shtern, MD, president and CEO of the AdMeTech Foundation.

The organization also participated in the Reclaim Your Vote initiative.

“For the 1619 Project, we continued to participate in the Election Protection Coalition during the November 5 presidential election, sent several volunteers to polling locations in Boston, and increased voter participation in low propensity precincts of color in Brockton by mailing out 5,000 postcards with individualized voting history compared to the city average,” said Hall.

Lastly, the organization’s Young Professional Network (YPN) is a few steps from being reinstituted.

“We have identified 13 members who have paid for their membership, and they must now select officers,” he said.

While Hall shared some of the highlights of their progress and accomplishments in 2024, he made it clear that they will continue their work in this new year.

“Thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the organization will be launching a Clean energy career exploration program to connect people with the climatech training programs jobs of the future, particularly for formerly incarcerated individuals,” Hall said.

He plans to further their efforts into Climatech, with the help of State Sen. Liz Miranda.

“[She] included $1,000,000.00 in the Economic Development Bond Bill that was recently signed by Governor Maura Healey. This is not a budget earmark; it is a bond authorization. The legislature authorizes capital funding in a bond bill, but there is no guarantee that what the legislature authorizes will get funded,” he said.

“Every year, the Governor releases a five-year capital investment plan and a one-year capital budget detailing what capital spending will happen that year. When an amendment is secured in a bond bill, there is still advocacy needed with the Governor’s Office to ensure this spending actually happens,” he added.

ULEM is well into its strategic planning process, which will help clarify its strategic vision, the approach to its work and the narrative that describes its work.

“We are working to address the social determinants of community wellbeing and bring about systems change. Our role is to help people navigate pathways and connect them to pipelines of economic opportunity and, through that, build wealth and political power in our communities,” he said.

Regarding the current political landscape, Hall said, “We stand at a critical moment in our Nation’s history and the actions we take will resonate for generations to come. We stand on the shoulders of those who have faced the denial of access to the democratic process. We have inherited the benefits of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities that our ancestors could not fully experience.”

He concluded, “We are living in the legacy of those who emerged from or defied the grasp of poverty and were able to thrive even in the face of opposition. So, stand with us…as we inspire hope through action. Stand with us…as we defend democracy, demand diversity, and defeat poverty. Stand with us tonight as we continue to empower communities and change lives.”