tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37900554411144556792024-03-20T18:25:23.311-07:00Indianapolis Urban LeagueIndianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-88265681816868788752011-03-31T08:08:00.000-07:002011-03-31T08:10:23.360-07:00First 2011 State of Black America (SOBA) "I Am Empowered Health Award" awarded to IUL President<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIktxqNBaHyS3Zw-AsoSiwHM4i8h5dH8lBb6qinLmOgadpLwjSVVdBysbLBeS3QuLkdkFpZE-yt1zeT_8uVtw-h5QULJWSE3cm1wk-2e9VkphfNBADVTXooVUzBEqlpRshflzzQ5RpB0/s1600/header.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="57" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIktxqNBaHyS3Zw-AsoSiwHM4i8h5dH8lBb6qinLmOgadpLwjSVVdBysbLBeS3QuLkdkFpZE-yt1zeT_8uVtw-h5QULJWSE3cm1wk-2e9VkphfNBADVTXooVUzBEqlpRshflzzQ5RpB0/s320/header.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March 7, 2011 </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joseph Slash </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">President </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indianapolis Urban League </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">777 Indiana Avenue </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indianapolis, IN 46202 </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear President Slash: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am pleased to inform you that the National Urban League (NUL) has selected </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you to become the first recipient of the<b> 2011 State of Black America (SOBA) “I Am </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Empowered Health Award”</b>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> I Am Empowered SOBA Awards</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> allows NUL to recognize outstanding </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">advocacy efforts among our affiliates. This year’s awardees have been relentless </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">advocates – within the areas of <b>Jobs, Education, Housing, and Health</b> – for the Urban </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Communities they serve. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We would like to present this award to you on </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thursday, March 31, 2011</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, at our </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">annual <b>Closing Awards Luncheon </b>from <b>12:30 p.m.</b> to <b>1:30 p.m.</b> within<b> Howard </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>University’s Blackburn Center</b>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We eagerly await your response and respectfully request that your staff </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">contact Rejane Frederick, Special Assistant, National Urban League Policy </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Institute, at rfrederick@nul.org, or by phone at 202-898-1604, to confirm your </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">attendance. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations on your selection for this important honor. We look </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">forward to seeing you on March 31st. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Very truly yours, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnnbw96FyH-Ayv1RvIWqyaSlMTpkcJnAwgHNpMsgOEDn13YqRsaLlPEWx8OXGebgZ0_nOcIRPKBXQAOFvE5s2zcaseR2wC9UBb_NqsYQfyAsNhYXzTtcuHJbgZ9LkZiFJUap3LpBo4nY/s1600/Marc_Morial_signature.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnnbw96FyH-Ayv1RvIWqyaSlMTpkcJnAwgHNpMsgOEDn13YqRsaLlPEWx8OXGebgZ0_nOcIRPKBXQAOFvE5s2zcaseR2wC9UBb_NqsYQfyAsNhYXzTtcuHJbgZ9LkZiFJUap3LpBo4nY/s1600/Marc_Morial_signature.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marc H. Morial </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">President & CEO </span>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-42685636634969678552011-03-29T07:57:00.000-07:002011-03-29T08:01:06.713-07:00Change urged in hiring at IMPD, IFD<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px;"></span><br />
<h2 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mayoral task force cites reasons diversity is declining, notes ways to reverse trend</span></h2><div><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>by John Murray</i></span></div><div><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A report issued by a mayoral task force says efforts to boost diversity in the Indianapolis police and fire ranks have been stymied by forces ranging from recent department mergers to changes in law and policy.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and Fire departments -- and elected officials -- must adapt to such challenges by restoring flexibility in hiring and promotions, says the report, issued recently by the Public Safety Personnel Diversity Task Force. It also calls for renewed vigilance to guard against diversity numbers backsliding further.</span></span><br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The report by the 30-member task force largely echoes concerns expressed in recent years both inside the city's Department of Public Safety and in the community.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">But the challenge facing public safety officials and others has long been to boost representation of racial minorities and women while ensuring fairness for all candidates.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Even before the task force began meeting in September 2009, public safety officials had started work on an overhaul of recruitment, hiring, training and promotions.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Public Safety Director Frank Straub said Mayor Greg Ballard will announce details of new approaches in those areas in four to six weeks.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">"He's going to have a very comprehensive announcement -- one that I think the community should be extremely proud of," Straub said. He declined to reveal details until then.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Indianapolis Urban League President Joseph Slash -- the diversity task force's co-chairman, along with the Rev. Richard Willoughby of Promise Land Christian Community Church -- expressed hope that the report, which has been in the mayor's hands since January, would only add to the sense of urgency.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Slash says it's telling that except in public safety, the racial makeup of city and Marion County employees largely reflects that of the community.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">"That suggests that we have an institutional process where minority candidates are screened out instead of screened in," said Slash, also a member of the Indianapolis Civilian Police Merit Board. "We have to change the whole process so we can recruit, hire and promote in the police and fire departments to gain an employed group that reflects the population."</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Task force members included community and business leaders, clergy members, city officials, and the police and fire union presidents.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The report identifies key events that, after years of gains, contributed to dips in the departments' minority ranks in recent years, particularly among blacks.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">That group makes up about 13 percent of IMPD, down slightly from three years ago, and about 14 percent of IFD, down from 18 percent two years ago -- and the lowest level in more than 20 years.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Why is that? A big reason lies in recent consolidation that added mostly white officers and firefighters to their ranks. The city police department merged with the sheriff's law enforcement division in 2007 to create IMPD, and IFD has absorbed five township fire departments.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Other factors that the report says have worked against efforts to diversify the ranks:</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A federal court's dismissal in 2008 of consent decrees that for three decades set rigid racial and gender benchmarks. With backing from Ballard, a Republican, the U.S. Department of Justice sought to end the oversight, saying the goals largely had been met. Ballard's predecessor, Democrat Bart Peterson, had resisted the move.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A 1996 change in state law that removed a county residency requirement for firefighters and police officers. The Justice Department later used that to justify changing the target benchmark for blacks from the county workforce -- now about 26 percent -- to the metro workforce, about half as high.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The removal, upon IMPD's formation, of a provision in city/county code that had allowed the police chief to hire or promote 20 percent of candidates from the eligibility list without regard to score, allowing more discretion.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Though Straub is keeping new plans for hiring and promotions under wraps, public safety officials in the past have said they were considering moving away from a list-based approach. That has meant ranking candidates based on test scores, interviews and other criteria -- some of them subjective -- resulting in candidates separated by a fraction of a point.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">One alternative would involve grouping eligible candidates into tiers based on scores in a "banding" system that eschews a straight list.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The task force's report urges restoring the previous ordinance provision allowing the 20 percent flexibility in selecting from the list. But it also endorsed consideration of a banding approach.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Earlier this week, the City-County Council's minority-party Democrats introduced a merit board expansion proposal that also included restoration of the 20 percent flexibility for police. For both departments, the proposal would give preference in hiring and promotions to candidates with local ties, another task force recommendation.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The council's Law Enforcement Study Commission is expected to discuss the proposal.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A year ago, Straub said, the departments began implementing performance evaluations, a tool the task force report says should figure into promotion decisions.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Ballard said that while many reforms are already under way, the task force's report adds a vital community voice.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">"It all adds to the conversation, which is very much needed," he said this week, "so I appreciate what they've done."</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The list-ranking approach, in use for decades, had long invited lawsuits by both white and black officers and firefighters.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A 2-year-old federal lawsuit, spearheaded by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is still pending. The NAACP is awaiting a judge's ruling on its request to reconsider a September decision tossing out many of the plaintiffs' claims and weakening the suit.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">NAACP attorneys and other critics have said the city is moving too slowly, with its efforts bringing little payoff in diversifying the ranks so far.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">At the same time, the departments' unions have sought to guard against new approaches that place too much value on racial diversity at the expense of fairness.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Bill Owensby, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he was happy with the task force's report overall.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">He intends to discuss the new approaches further with Straub, he said, and sees the most hope in the director's plans to make recruitment efforts more aggressive and proactive.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">"I think if we improve recruiting, we can get to where we want to be all around," Owensby said, including boosting the ranks of racial minorities.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Straub and Benjamin Hunter, the Republican chairman of the council's public safety committee, noted a need to keep representation of all minorities in mind, not just blacks.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">"My growing concern is making sure we are also recruiting Hispanic officers as well" to attract more Spanish-speaking officers, said Hunter, noting that Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in Marion County. The 2010 census showed they make up 9 percent of the population.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0" style="background-color: #ffffdd; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Source: <a href="http://beta.indystar.com/article/20110326/LOCAL18/103260334/1001/OPINION01/Task-force-s-report-urges-changes-hiring-IMPD-IFD?odyssey=nav|head">Indystar.com</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-53536078729102065332011-02-25T04:47:00.000-08:002011-02-25T04:47:23.085-08:00Urban League's Morial urges job creationBy Carrie Ritchie carrie.ritchie@indystar.com<br />
<br />
The leader of a nonprofit that advocates for education and job opportunities for blacks kicked off a three-day jobs tour today in Indianapolis.<br />
<br />
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, encouraged Hoosiers to focus on jobs and education this afternoon at a luncheon hosted by The Economic Club of Indiana.<br />
<br />
Morial said those two components will be crucial to establishing a successful economy in the 21st Century.<br />
<br />
"These are, no doubt, difficult times for the nation," he said.<br />
<br />
Most of the country's urban areas are struggling with high unemployment and the problems that come with it, but Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans, thinks urban areas can find new strength by focusing on job creation and incentives to drive it.<br />
<br />
Training and educating people are a must, he said. Morial called for a long-term commitment to education, noting that other countries are ramping up their efforts to provide quality education to their citizens.<br />
<br />
"Our children need to be in school more hours and more days," Morial said.<br />
<br />
He also said the government shouldn't raise academic standards for students without giving them better teachers and technology and investing in initiatives that will help them learn.<br />
<br />
Morial will travel to other Indiana cities during his jobs tour.<br />
<br />
He's touting a 12-point plan that the National Urban League developed to boost job creation.<br />
<br />
<i>Follow Star reporter Carrie Ritchie on Twitter at twitter.com/CarrieRitchie. Call her at (317) 444-2751.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011102240357">http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011102240357</a></i></span>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-71713857368470714332011-02-25T03:44:00.000-08:002011-02-25T03:44:43.731-08:00National Urban League CEO speaks to the Economic Club of Indiana<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 15px;">Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, was the guest speaker at the Economic Club of Indiana lunch at the Indiana Convention Center. Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">Alan Petersime/The Star</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; line-height: 15px;">Click <a href="http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/12020-national-urban-league-ceo-speaks-to-the-economic-club-of-indiana">here</a> to see the photo gallery.</span></i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Source: <a href="http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/12020-national-urban-league-ceo-speaks-to-the-economic-club-of-indiana">http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/12020-national-urban-league-ceo-speaks-to-the-economic-club-of-indiana</a></span></i>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-31680405119239154382010-10-29T08:43:00.000-07:002010-10-29T08:43:10.381-07:00Cash crunch hits Indianapolis Urban League<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Indianapolis Urban League is facing a cash crunch after its leaders spent more than a year trying to save a program that lost its funding source.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Now the civil-rights organization finds itself in a precarious financial position, something that’s become increasingly familiar for not-for-profits in recent years.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“It’s at the point where you have to stay with it on a weekly basis,” President and CEO Joseph Slash said of the agency’s finances.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Earlier this month, west-side community center <a href="http://www.ibj.com/christamore-house-laying-off-seven-employees/PARAMS/article/22663" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">Christamore House said</span></a> it had laid off seven of its 19 staff members and might have to suspend services before the end of the year because of a funding shortage.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Both Urban League and Christamore House receive money from United Way of Central Indiana, which cut its distributions to all agencies by 10 percent last year. United Way CEO Ellen Annala said she and other grantmakers expected to see widespread financial problems in 2009. As it turns out, she said, many did not reach the breaking point until this year. “We know there are several organizations who are concerned going forward,” she said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Indianapolis Urban League’s budget last year was about $1.8 million, and revenue fell short of expenses by about $70,000. This year, Slash said, the shortfall will be about $112,000 on a budget of $1.6 million—after tapping a line of credit and other sources of reserves.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">In addition to playing watchdog on issues of racial equality, the Urban League provides a variety of social services. One of its most successful programs has been what Slash described as “wrap-around” services for ex-prisoners.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Until July 2009, the Urban League received a $202,500 contract from Marion County Community Corrections to work with offenders recently released from jail or serving sentences on home detention. Participants would check in at the Urban League’s offices at 777 Indiana Ave., where they could get help finding jobs and making the transition back to society.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Community Corrections changed the way the program operated in 2009 by having its service providers work out of jails. Slash said he didn’t want to compromise the Urban League’s method, which had lowered the rate of recidivism, and let the contract go.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">At the same time, he didn’t want to lose the two staff members who had experience working with offenders. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“There are roughly 550 people being released back into Marion County monthly, and they still come here,” Slash said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">So he decided to keep the two employees, who were supported by other, smaller grants, on the payroll while looking for alternative funding sources. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The new funding never materialized. Meanwhile, another grant that propped up the payroll came to an end. Slash laid off the two staff members and a part-time clerical worker at the end of August, leaving 16 employees on the payroll.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">One of those former employees, Dennis Jones, said Urban League failed to remit three months’ worth of withholdings into his retirement account. He made a complaint to the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the $600 showed up in his account earlier this month.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Slash chalked the incident up to general cash-flow problems. The Urban League, which handles other city and state contracts, has to wait for reimbursements, compounding the problem, he said. That was not the first time Urban League had to catch up on remitting an employee's retirement money. United Way Director of Agency Services Christie Gillespie said she was aware of a similar incident in 2008, but it was remedied.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“To be responsible financially, you really just have to retrench,” said Michael Twyman, director of Indiana grant programs at the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, which has provided some funding to the local Urban League chapter.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Though many charities are dealing with reductions in government contracts, grants and donations, Twyman said he hasn’t heard of any others that failed to follow federal rules on the timely remittal of retirement funds.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It’s common for charities to survive from one grant to the next, Twyman said, but that’s not a sustainable business model. To avoid crises, charities have to look for ways to lower their cost of operations and “continue to beat the drum for individual giving,” he said. “You have to do it all at the same time.”</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The Urban League's largest sources of funding have been its United Way allocation, followed by its county contract and a deal with the Indiana State Department of Health to provide testing and prevention services for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Many charities have stretched their budgets to avoid laying off employees, Gillespie said. “If non-profits are guilty of anything, they’re probably guilty of trying to be as humane as possible with their own staff.”</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Christamore House was in jeopardy months before interim Executive Director Tina Sullivan let go seven staff members this month. “Since June we were aware they were in trouble,” Gillespie said. The previous executive director, Dionne Leslie, went on maternity leave in August and later resigned.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">With an outpouring of support from the Christamore House Guild and other community members, Sullivan said the community center—which serves the depressed Haughville neighborhood—likely will make it to the end of the year without shutting its doors. Next year, its budget will be reduced from $1.3 million to about $650,000.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“We’re very pleased with how the board is stepping up,” Gillespie said of Christamore House.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">United Way conducts regular evaluations of the charities it supports, but it doesn’t make the results of those reviews public. The reviews are conducted every one, two or four years, depending on the agency's previous score.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Christamore House was on a four-year review cycle, while Urban League gets an annual review, Gillespie said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The Urban League has been one of United Way’s largest grant recipients over the years. This year it will receive $343,689, making it 20th out of 103 charities in the size of its allocation.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The Urban League’s leaders are looking to beef up their fundraising and their profile in Indianapolis. Board Chairman Jerry Martin said younger generations aren’t very aware of the Urban League’s role in the national civil rights movement, or the local chapter’s work in race relations.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“He does a lot, and he doesn’t get a lot of pub for it,” Martin said of Slash.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Slash, 67, was a deputy mayor under Bill Hudnut and a vice president at Indianapolis Power and Light before working at Urban League. He took over as CEO from the local chapter’s iconic founder, the late Sam Jones, in 2003.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The Indianapolis Urban League hasn’t conducted a major fundraising campaign since 2001, when it raised nearly $5 million for the current headquarters building.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Urban League chapters elsewhere have been successful in drumming up widespread support, Twyman said. The Pulliam trust recently funded a two-year pilot program at the local chapter to coach fathers on parenting skills. The grant ended this summer.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“I would like to see the Indianapolis branch get in lock step with the creativity at the national level,” Twyman said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"></div><div style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Source: Indianapolis Business Journal</i></div><div style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><a href="http://www.ibj.com/cash-crunch-hits-urban-league/PARAMS/article/23094">http://www.ibj.com/cash-crunch-hits-urban-league/PARAMS/article/23094</a></i></div><div><br />
</div>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3790055441114455679.post-59860822845650327892010-10-28T08:52:00.000-07:002010-10-29T03:49:12.724-07:00Education is the New Civil Rights Issue for Our Time – Get Outraged and Make a Difference<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzfFGTP3LmVVrMVNC3yVPoeUPbdShxmD2xKeCQyTNaKR6kbc3V-jmlomNyDGzjM0oKmpB7OXzdEdArUIfhQ8k8bEmpElmyakdbj_IrBEQAkXLHOFYJ4PnTa-5tfsKKoPpGX_OJiNV4HU/s1600/child_flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzfFGTP3LmVVrMVNC3yVPoeUPbdShxmD2xKeCQyTNaKR6kbc3V-jmlomNyDGzjM0oKmpB7OXzdEdArUIfhQ8k8bEmpElmyakdbj_IrBEQAkXLHOFYJ4PnTa-5tfsKKoPpGX_OJiNV4HU/s320/child_flag.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, the city of Indianapolis made nationwide headlines with the instances of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.essence.com/news/hot_topics_4/indianapolis_black_expo.php">youth-related violence during the Indiana Black Expo’s 40th Anniversary Summer Celebration</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The latest shootings in a single night, involving young people from age 10 to 18, are among several instances of community violence in a recent rash of incidences in Indianapolis over the past few months. The community is outraged, demanding immediate action and rightfully so.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Youth-related violence isn’t a new challenge for Indianapolis. It isn’t a new challenge for our country. We’ve been battling gang violence and out-of-control teens for as long as I’ve been an adult. The issue isn’t that we don’t recognize the problem; the issue is what do we do. What do we do that provides an immediate and impactful solution? What do we do that causes global change to a nationwide problem? Where do we begin to address this cycle of violence that seems to get increasingly worse year-after-year?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe education is the key and the beginning of systemic change. It’s been said that education is the new civil rights issue of our time, and I agree. So, why don’t we see the same level of outrage about our city’s low high school graduation rates?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can’t begin to count all of the positive unintended consequences that come from a solid education. For example, children learning to add two and two in math, aren’t just learning addition, they’re learning to apply logic and reasoning. Its unintended consequences like this coupled with the social/behavioral skills imparted by good teachers that kick in when a child finds himself in a potentially violent situation. These skills support the child in making a good decision in the heat of the moment. Without a solid educational foundation, our children are 100 percent unprepared for life’s challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community violence is EVERYONE’S problem. But so is education… Whether you are a parent or not, the quality of education provided to Indiana children is an issue that affects each and every resident. Get outraged about instances of violence in this community, and get outraged about the lack of good education in our schools because the two go hand-in-hand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When little Bobby next door doesn’t pass his I-Step exam, get outraged. When little Sherry at church doesn’t make it to the next grade level, get outraged. Get outraged when the state of Indiana has to take over public schools. Get outraged. And then do something!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Indianapolis Urban League staff, board and volunteers encourage you to get outraged and get involved to help us make change for the youth of our community. We’re planning to tackle this issue head on and we need you. We’re open to your comments and ideas. Stay tuned for more details concerning upcoming activities.</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div>Indianapolis Urban Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143217220889114565noreply@blogger.com1