[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S577-S578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BEN RICHMOND

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a great 
Kentuckian and a man who has dedicated his entire career to promoting 
civil rights and helping people. My good friend Ben Richmond, the 
longtime president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, recently 
announced his impending retirement from that position. Mr. Richmond has 
served as president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League for nearly 
30 years--since 1987.
  Mr. Richmond is a civil rights champion who has led a venerable civil 
rights institution such as the Louisville Urban League to new heights. 
Under his tenure, the Louisville Urban League has promoted job training 
and education for many in Louisville's African-American community. His 
body of work is so outstanding that in 2007 he received from the city 
the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Award, a recognition for a local 
activist who is dedicated to King's principles and who has promoted 
peace, equality, and justice.
  Since Mr. Richmond took over the Louisville Urban League, the staff 
has grown from around 20 to 30 and the annual budget grown from under 
$1 million to around $3.3 million. Mr. Richmond is the driving force 
for fundraising for the budget.
  The Louisville Urban League placed more than 200 people in jobs last 
year with a combined annual income of nearly $5 million. It helped 
about 1,000 prepare for finding employment through career expos, job 
training, referrals, and career counseling. It also has many programs 
to help youth and seniors.
  The Louisville Urban League is nearly halfway towards realizing their 
goal of seeing 15,000 local African Americans earn college degrees 
between 2012 and 2020. Mr. Richmond oversaw the Louisville Urban 
League's move to a new headquarters in 1990. And under Mr. Richmond's 
tenure, the Louisville Urban League was just one of 13 Urban League 
affiliates nationwide to receive a top score in a self-audit required 
by the National Urban League.
  I should add my interest in the Urban League is personal--my father 
once served on the board of the Louisville Urban League. I believe he 
knew Ben Richmond. We are lucky, that after his retirement, Mr. 
Richmond plans on staying in Louisville. Our city can continue to 
benefit from his wisdom and experience.
  I want to wish my good friend Mr. Ben Richmond all the best in 
retirement, and I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Ben for his successful tenure at the helm of the Louisville Urban 
League. The city of Louisville and the State of Kentucky have certainly 
benefitted immeasurably by his many efforts over the decades.
  The Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper recently published an 
article extolling Mr. Ben Richmond's many accomplishments. I ask 
unanimous consent that said article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Courier-Journal, Jan. 21, 2015]

                   Urban League CEO Richmond Retiring

                         (By Sheldon S. Shafer)

       Ben Richmond, a cornerstone of local social activism for 
     more than a quarter century and a major advocate of economic 
     equality, is retiring as president and CEO of the Louisville 
     Urban League.
       Richmond announced his impending retirement at an Urban 
     League board meeting Tuesday, after serving as head of the 
     civil-rights organization since 1987.
       Under the leadership of Richmond, a mainstay in the push to 
     improve economic development in western Louisville, the Urban 
     League has long been dedicated to promoting job training and 
     education, primarily for Louisville's poorer citizens.
       Richmond ``has been one of the anchors for diversity and 
     for stability in not only the African-American community but 
     the overall Louisville community,'' said Raoul Cunningham, 
     Louisville NAACP president. ``I am going to miss Ben, his 
     counsel and his cooperative spirit.''
       Richmond ``has become known around the country for 
     innovative and groundbreaking approaches to helping residents 
     improve their quality of life,'' said Dan Hall, a University 
     of Louisville vice president and the Urban League board 
     chairman. ``He is intensely passionate about helping 
     individuals find a pathway to success.''
       Richmond received Louisville Metro's Dr. Martin Luther King 
     Jr. Freedom Award in 2007, an annual recognition given by the 
     city to a local activist dedicated to King's principles and 
     who has promoted peace, equality and justice.
       Then-Mayor Jerry Abramson said at the time that ``over his 
     decades of leadership, countless lives have been improved 
     through Ben's tireless efforts in workforce development, 
     housing and youth programs.''
       The national Urban League was founded in 1910, and the 
     Louisville agency in 1921. The

[[Page S578]]

     local league was set up chiefly to help rural black 
     Southerners who had moved to Louisville after World War I.
       The Louisville Urban League under Richmond has greatly 
     expanded its reach. It placed about 250 people in jobs last 
     year and helped around 1,000 more prepare for finding 
     employment. The league's career-development efforts range 
     from helping job seekers draft resumes to mock job 
     interviews.
       In recent times the league has sponsored Saturday morning 
     enrichment classes for children. And it has found buyers for 
     dozens of new single-family homes built on vacant or 
     abandoned property under its Project Rebound program in 
     Russell, helping to transform the surrounding neighborhood.
       League efforts annually include career expos; job training, 
     referrals and career counseling; a variety of services for 
     employers; homeownership training and counseling; a health 
     and wellness program called Get Fit Louisville; a walk to 
     defeat childhood obesity; and a long list of programs to help 
     both youths and seniors in many ways.
       Benjamin K. Richmond, 71 and single, was born in Durham, 
     N.C., and raised in Jackson, Miss.
       Richmond came to the Louisville Urban League as president 
     and CEO in 1987, after top jobs with league affiliates in 
     Wisconsin and Michigan. Richmond here replaced the league's 
     longtime leader, the late Art Walters. Walters, who died in 
     2010 at age 91, directed the Louisville Urban League from 
     1970 to 1987.
       Since Richmond took over, the league's staff has grown from 
     around 20 to 30--also aided by dozens of volunteers--and its 
     annual budget has grown from under $1 million to around $3.3 
     million this year. The funds have been cobbled together 
     largely by Richmond--from Metro United Way and numerous 
     public and private sources.
       The current budget, for instance, includes about $340,000 
     from United Way, less than $100,000 from Metro Government and 
     a $1.2 million federal grant earmarked primarily for programs 
     for seniors.
       The league has several departments, including the Center 
     for Workforce Development, the Center for Housing and 
     Financial Empowerment and the Center for Youth Development 
     and Education.
       Richmond said in an interview Monday that he expects to 
     remain on the job until around June 30, or until a 
     replacement is named by the agency's board, after a planned 
     national search. He said he may then stay on under a contract 
     for a while longer.
       Richmond intends to stay in Louisville, while traveling 
     some to visit relatives in Mississippi and Arizona.
       But he pledges to remain active, noting that ``there are 
     many opportunities in both the public and private sectors 
     here. I will see what emerges. But I want to have fun.''
       Among many achievements during his tenure, Richmond cited:
       Opening the league headquarters in 1990 at 1535 W. 
     Broadway, a 19,000-square-foot office, community meeting 
     site, classroom and job-training facility. The league 
     invested $1.6 million in the headquarters, which was paid off 
     long ago. Richmond said the league headquarters has spurred 
     significant nearby development along Broadway.
       The economic impact of the league in terms of finding jobs 
     for more than 200 people last year. Their combined annual 
     income should be nearly $5 million.
       Richmond noted that in recent years the league helped find 
     jobs for dozens of minorities in construction of the KFC Yum! 
     Center, and he said the league was instrumental in getting 
     the PGA of America to establish an urban youth golf program 
     and also hire top staff minorities.
       That a halfway point has nearly been reached toward a 
     goal--shared with partner organizations such as Simmons 
     College and Jefferson Community and Technical College--to 
     have 15,000 local African-Americans earn college degrees 
     between 2012 and 2020. The minority effort is part of the 
     community's 55,000 Degrees effort.
       That the league last year received a top score in a self-
     audit--a review of its staff, policies, finances and 
     procedures--required every three years by the National Urban 
     League. The Louisville agency was just one of 13 affiliates 
     of the national organization to achieve that status, Richmond 
     said.
       Richmond said he is proud that under his oversight the 
     local league has attained financial stability, adding that he 
     believes his organized is widely respected.
       Under Richmond, the league has become more diversified. 
     About half of its 36-member board and about half the staff 
     are white. Richmond said he has strived to ``practice what we 
     preach--racial diversity.''
       Richmond ``has been a tremendous leader,'' said Metro 
     Councilman David Tandy, D-4th District. ``There is still work 
     to do, but he has been at the forefront of the second, or 
     third, wave of the civil-rights movement, focusing on 
     economic opportunity. ... He has played a pivotal role in the 
     community.''
       Richmond ``has tried to create opportunities and meet 
     challenges our community has faced,'' said longtime ally Sam 
     Watkins, president of the Louisville Central Community 
     Center, another West End-based, pro-development group.
       ``He's been a champion for west Louisville and has been 
     proactive in trying to garner desperately needed attention 
     for the area's issues and problems.''

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