Girl power will lead PCUL into the future!

PCUL’s new President and CEO, Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, said they are switching the organization’s style up and are preparing to do transformative things in the community.

BY RAVEN JOY SHONEL | Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — The Pinellas County Urban League (PCUL) held its 46th annual Equal Opportunity Day Gala on Oct. 14 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park. This year’s event — Sankofa Soirée – made history as Nikki Gaskin-Capehart was welcomed as the first woman to helm the decades-old civil rights organization.

The PCUL focus areas are education, housing and health initiatives. On an annual basis, more than 15,000 residents in Pinellas and Pasco Counties receive services in youth education, crime prevention, health services, job programs, weatherization, home energy assistance and economic development.

The economic development programs assist job-seeking clients in obtaining their goals by providing assessments and goal setting, career counseling, employability skills training, financial fitness training, resumes, technical training, certifications, career fairs, job search, resources and wrap-around services.

Left, Mayor Ken Welch, PCUL President and CEO Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, and Lenice C. Emanuel, former chief equity officer for the City of St. Pete

On that historic night, community leader Carl Lavender and the City of St. Pete’s Public Information Officer Erica Riggins served as master and mistress of ceremonies. PCUL Board Chair Rodney Wilson introduced the lady of the evening as she quipped about their decision.

“Thank you, Chair Wilson and our outstanding and very savvy board of directors, for selecting me to lead this organization for such a time as this,” she laughed.

She immediately thanked all the team members that make up the PCUL, including Dr. Loretta Caldwell Thompson and her Guild members, Jabaar Edmond and the Young Professionals and the NuLites (National Urban League Incentives to Excel and Succeed), the youth arm of the organization.

Gaskin-Capehart said her initial vision went into overdrive when she considered the name for the evening’s event: Sankofa Soirée. Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana, meaning “to retrieve” or “go back and get.”

Community leader Carl Lavender and the City of St. Pete’s Public Information Officer Erica Riggins served as master and mistress of ceremonies

“Because like a bird, I have long approached my work in the community with an eye towards the future and supporting our immediate needs yet keeping my head on a reflective swivel at times,” she explained.

She said she is grateful to learn about her rich heritage and show respect for her elders; however, quoting community leader Mrs. Gwendolyn Reese, “Being mature and seasoned does not necessarily make you an elder.”

“That designation comes with great respect and admiration for those like Rev. [Watson] Haynes,” she said of the late PCUL president and CEO. “Our elders with lived experience in compassion, servant leadership, respect for others and a commitment to mentoring and advocacy that uplifts achieve sustainable results in empowering communities and changing lives.”

In his 10-year tenure at PCUL, the late Rev. Haynes worked tirelessly to address issues in education, generational poverty, affordable housing, adult education, health and so much more.

Gaskin-Capehart challenged the community to think about their Sankofa story and how they will honor the past, treasure the present and shape the future.

“My Urban League story started many years ago watching Mr. Jim Simmons, his leadership in the community while I, at that time, was madam president of the student body at Gibbs High School in 1991.”

Gaskin-Capehart said Sankofa means “to go back and get it,” and as she stood before the sold-out crowd, it was an affirmation that when she left PCUL in 2013 as the director of communications and external affairs to serve as the Urban Affairs director for the city, that she “came back and got it.”

Five community members committed to serving others and sharing their skills and talents to help empower and change lives were awarded the inaugural Haynes Heroes Award. Left, Jason Mathis, Gloria Campbell, Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, Linda Marcelli, Darren Hammond and Rev. Frank Brunson

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a divine assignment, and I will approach it as such with passion, power, and purpose. My generation, during this time, we are the intergenerational core, and we must work diligently as agents of change to achieve economic equity and social justice.”

The new president and CEO, and longtime entrepreneur said PCUL will be a trusted convener and significant player in breaking down barriers, particularly regarding economic empowerment in our community.

“It might start with rental utility assistance, but then it can move to financial empowerment training; move to business and job development with credit building support, and then on to homeownership and retirement [planning.] We will meet our clients where they are and take them throughout the full spectrum of becoming empowered,” she exclaimed.

The organization recently started its Vision 2030 Strategic Planning with an internal staff training and input session. In the next phase of their planning, they will go to the board, who will work together with input from you as the community.

They are interested in your thoughts about their current focus areas and how PCUL can serve the public better. Click here to be a part of Vision 2030.

“No one grows up and says, ‘I can’t wait to live in poverty.’ No parent looks at their newborn child and says, ‘Honey, I can’t wait for you to be poor.’ Everybody has better ideas for their children and better ideas for their family … and the Urban League comes in to stand in the gap.

New PCUL Board President Dr. Tonja Williams, the first woman and African-American president of St. Petersburg College, spoke about community members having opportunities through PCUL to learn, earn, and return.

“They learn new things, new ways of living, utilizing resources, getting things that they need to have a better life. They earn more money when they learn,” she said, adding that they return to the community and replenish what’s needed.

Willams said if you haven’t experienced needing help with your roof, needing help to turn the lights on or pay other bills, then “you really don’t get it.”

“I’ve been there,” she revealed. “You’ve never seen your parents crying, trying to figure out how to make ends meet and what to do. You hear about the working poor who work 60 hours a week and still can’t pay the rent? That’s real. That happens.”

But there is hope for those toiling in darkness, and it’s the PCUL, she said. The organization is “here to make sure that those in need get what they need, but also making sure that our children learn how to be leaders, how to communicate, how to live a life full of prosperity and energy and fun and experiences.”

Williams then asked for money to help sustain the community throughout 2024. If you could not attend the event, you can still donate at PCULEOD.givesmart.com.

“One of the things that [Watson Haynes] has done very much so like Goliath Davis, Morris Milton, Attorney Ike Williams, so many people: they give until they have nothing left.”

In honor of the late Rev. Haynes, five members of the community who have committed themselves to serving others and sharing their skills and talents to help empower and change lives were awarded the inaugural Haynes Heroes Award:

Frank Brunson, executive director of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Eta Rho Educational Services
Gloria Campbell, president of Advantage Insurance Solutions and community leader
Darren Hammond, retired educator and PCUL volunteer
Linda Marcelli, principal of Lucky’s Real Tomatoes, Inc. and PCUL servant leader
Jason Mathis, CEO, Downtown Partnership

To close out the evening, Gaskin-Capehart announced a new movement honoring Jean Anderson Davies’ legacy of leadership and collaboration in supporting women ready to transform their lives. She is the last living member of the original affiliate charter members group.

Considered the mother of the PCUL movement, Gaskin-Capehart said they can coach advocates to stand in the gap because of Anderson Davies’ tireless commitment to the cause.

“The majority of our clients at the Urban League are women, and that is why it gives me great pleasure to roll the Pinellas County Urban League Empower Her Movement.”