When individuals are empowered to succeed, the community as a whole prospers.
The Council of Urban Professionals began as a spark of an idea in a living room in New York City in 2006, where 62 young urban professionals gathered to discuss our desire to help our communities. We yearned for a space where our unique resources – as professionals in the finance, law, small business, media and other sectors – could be maximized. At the same time, we understood that our collective capacity to affect real social change was directly linked to our own individual power to drive this change within our respective sectors and companies. In other words, we each needed to become leaders in our own lives and careers in order to achieve real growth and prosperity in our communities.
Today, CUP is an energetic 21st century leadership development organization that molds diverse business and civic leaders, and empowers them to exert influence, achieve their individual goals and create collective impact through a range of programs and initiatives. Our original group of 62 founders has swelled to more than 5,000 urban professionals and industry leaders who take part in our events, trainings, speaker series, advocacy efforts and online networks. Since 2006, over 50 CUP members have been placed in key public sector and non-profit board and staff positions. Over 25 emerging civic leaders have completed our 9-month intensive CUP Fellows Program to learn new and innovative ways to engage in public service. These Fellows have entered the public sector, assumed leadership positions at award-winning charter schools and nonprofit organizations, and in times of crisis like the recent earthquake in Haiti, served as vital participants in emergency relief efforts.
The past year has also found CUP Members at the forefront of advocating for New York State legislation that enables women and minority owned businesses to access state business contracts. They have journeyed to Albany to meet with lawmakers, hosted dozens of events including our Wall Street Partners Dinners featuring panels with the investment banking leadership from JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, and published white papers and Op Eds to document the need to ensure that minorities and women have access to capital to grow their businesses and our communities.
Our popular Distinguished Leadership Series has offered New Yorkers the rare opportunity to discuss important issues of the day with luminaries ranging from Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And our Rewarding Achievement (REACH) Advanced Placement prep program, launched with 605 high school students in 2007, and has served over 3,000 registered students last year.
We are a relatively young organization, but we’ve been busy. Our members, fellows, board and leadership advisers inspire one another to dream big, and we look forward to what the CUP community will achieve in the coming year.
We hope you will join us – there’s so much good work to be done.
About
When individuals are empowered to succeed, the community as a whole prospers.
The Council of Urban Professionals began as a spark of an idea in a living room in New York City in 2006, where 62 young urban professionals gathered to discuss our desire to help our communities. We yearned for a space where our unique resources – as professionals in the finance, law, small business, media and other sectors – could be maximized. At the same time, we understood that our collective capacity to affect real social change was directly linked to our own individual power to drive this change within our respective sectors and companies. In other words, we each needed to become leaders in our own lives and careers in order to achieve real growth and prosperity in our communities.
Today, CUP is an energetic 21st century leadership development organization that molds diverse business and civic leaders, and empowers them to exert influence, achieve their individual goals and create collective impact through a range of programs and initiatives. Our original group of 62 founders has swelled to more than 5,000 urban professionals and industry leaders who take part in our events, trainings, speaker series, advocacy efforts and online networks. Since 2006, over 50 CUP members have been placed in key public sector and non-profit board and staff positions. Over 25 emerging civic leaders have completed our 9-month intensive CUP Fellows Program to learn new and innovative ways to engage in public service. These Fellows have entered the public sector, assumed leadership positions at award-winning charter schools and nonprofit organizations, and in times of crisis like the recent earthquake in Haiti, served as vital participants in emergency relief efforts.
The past year has also found CUP Members at the forefront of advocating for New York State legislation that enables women and minority owned businesses to access state business contracts. They have journeyed to Albany to meet with lawmakers, hosted dozens of events including our Wall Street Partners Dinners featuring panels with the investment banking leadership from JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, and published white papers and Op Eds to document the need to ensure that minorities and women have access to capital to grow their businesses and our communities.
Our popular Distinguished Leadership Series has offered New Yorkers the rare opportunity to discuss important issues of the day with luminaries ranging from Former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And our Rewarding Achievement (REACH) Advanced Placement prep program, launched with 605 high school students in 2007, and has served over 3,000 registered students last year.
We are a relatively young organization, but we’ve been busy. Our members, fellows, board and leadership advisers inspire one another to dream big, and we look forward to what the CUP community will achieve in the coming year.
We hope you will join us – there’s so much good work to be done.
Warmly,
Council of Urban Professionals