Nicole Hughey, New Chair of the Urban League of Greater Hartford.
HARTFORD, CT – The Urban League of Greater Hartford (ULGH) Board of Directors elected new officers for the 2023-2024 Board year at its Annual Meeting, added four new Directors, and reported another year of improved financials, staff additions, and continued community impact. Nicole Hughey, SiriusXM Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Social Impact, was elected Chair of the Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2023. The other elected officers of the 59-year-old nonprofit are: Vice-Chair Renee Coleman-Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of RC Mitchell Consulting; Secretary Shornda Cadore, Vice President of Procurement for the Americas region at Alstom, and Treasurer James Michel, Chief Executive Officer of Access Health CT. Serving in de factor roles are Immediate Past Chair Jonathan W. Roberts, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Valley Credit Union; and President David J. Hopkins, Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Greater Hartford.
“The end of a fiscal year brings both reflection and excitement, particularly when I think of our challenges and achievements over these 12 months,” states David Hopkins, who is now four and-a-half years into his tenure as Chief Executive Officer. “I am looking forward to finally working with Nicole in this capacity as Chair and seeing how the passion of the new Directors for our mission helps drive us to new strategic directions and governance.”
“I am excited and proud to assume leadership of the Board at this important time in the history of the organization,” says the Urban League of Greater Hartford’s new Chair Nicole Hughey. “Over the past three years alone, the organization has seen revenue growth of 50 percent, has reduced current liabilities by 75 percent, and expanded staff and programming, all positioning the League to make exponential strides throughout the next three years.”
The four Directors added this year are: Dr. Jeffrey Hines, Chief Diversity Officer for the University of Connecticut Health System; Kelly Harper, Senior Manager, Accounting Reporting and Advisory at Deloitte; Gaston Persano, Director of Business Strategy for Mature Commercial Engines Aftermarket at Pratt & Whitney, and Ellen Steinfeld, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Lending and Payments at Berkshire Bank.
Continuing are At-Large Directors Wes Alexander (Travelers), Rev. Dr. Michael Bailey (The First Cathedral), Eric Blumenthal (Focused Forward Executive Coaching), Christopher Clarke (Merrill Lynch/Bank of America), Earl Exum (Pratt & Whitney), Brian Foley (Town of Tolland, Conn.), Julia Marquis (Aetna/CVS), Stephen Marshall, III (Ahlstrom), and Laura Soll-Broxterman (Laura Soll Public Relations, LLC).
The Annual Meeting also recognized Dejah Morgan, Youth Development Specialist, and Kyrinda Richardson, Youth Development Manager, for 5 and 10 years, respectively, of working for the agency. The annual Community Service Award was presented to Stanley “Stack” Williams, CEO of Supreme Being, a nonprofit providing athletic training for high performing athletes in low-income neighborhoods with tools, including scholarships, to achieve their dreams of competing at the next level.
Incoming Board Chair Nicole Hughey established and leads SiriusXM’s DE&I strategy, mission, goals, and priorities. Since joining the company in 2020, she has rolled out mentoring and leadership programs for underrepresented employees, created the “Pathways Program” to create an avenue into the company for students from HBCUs, launched the initiative “Can We Talk?” to engage employees in authentic conversations about race, and created company-wide communications to ensure employees are aware of and can participate in cultural-specific music, talk, sports, and podcast programming. She has been recognized as Crain’s New York Business Top D&I Officer for 2023, a 2023 Most Influential Executives in Diversity & Inclusion by Savoy, a 2023 Top 15 Chief Diversity Officer and a 2019 Top 15 Champion of Diversity by Diversity Global magazine, a 2021 Outstanding Alum for Exceptional Professional Success at her alma mater University of Hartford, and a 2021 honoree of the 100 Women of Color of Connecticut.
Before joining SiriusXM, Hughey spent over 25 years in the insurance and healthcare industries, largely focused on DE&I, including tenures at both Mass General Brigham and Travelers. She holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Connecticut, an MBA in Organizational Behavior from the University of Hartford, and an Executive Strategic Change Management Certificate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In addition to serving on the Board of the Urban League of Greater Hartford, she is a member of the Hartford Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the Board of Visitors for the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business.
An East Hartford, Conn. resident, Hughey is in her second stint as a Director of the Urban League of Greater Hartford. In 2019, she was Vice Chair of the administration that hired CEO David Hopkins, but soon after resigned from the Board to pursue professional opportunity outside of the region. Now in the third year of her first term back with the 66th Affiliate of the National Urban League (a legacy Civil Rights organization), she has served as Chair of the Governance and Strategic Planning Committee, working closely with Hopkins on revising the bylaws, refining the mission, and preparing a strategic vision for the next 5 years.
Proceeds from the support of corporations, foundations, and individual donors help fund Urban League programs and operations. Donations are welcome and can be made at: www.ulgh.org/donate
Corporate partners include Travelers, Webster Bank, Pratt & Whitney, Comcast, Barnes Group, Inc., Stanley Black & Decker, Bank of America, The Hartford, Liberty Bank, Hartford Steam Boiler, Bob’s Discount Furniture, OTIS Elevator, and Root Center for Advanced Recovery, Delta Dental, and Berkshire Bank.
Urban League of Greater Hartford, Inc. (ULGH) is a community-based, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to promote racial equity through economic empowerment in the areas of youth development, adult education, workforce development and training, affordable housing, financial literacy, health equity, social justice, and advocacy. Established in 1964 as the National Urban League’s 66th affiliate, Its leadership and staff work locally to promote local projects and initiatives, including that nationwide organization’s “All In” campaign to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic by helping to inform communities of color about the vaccines so they can make the best, most informed decision about receiving the vaccine. For more information, visit www.ulgh.org or call 860-527-0147. Follow us on social media @ulgh64.
