Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial to Deliver Keynote Address at the MicroEdge Solutions Conference
It is with great pleasure that we share with you today the news that Marc Haydel Morial, the former Mayor of New Orleans and current President and CEO of the National Urban League, will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming MicroEdge Solutions Conference (MESC), October 4 – 6, 2010, in New Orleans.
Marc Morial is one of America's most visionary and accomplished leaders. As Mayor of New Orleans, he led a dramatic comeback setting the standard for all of America's cities. Morial transformed a broken New Orleans into a model for the nation's urban cities. Through his sweeping police reforms, housing and neighborhood revitalization efforts, innovative global economic development initiatives, investment in infrastructure, and support of recreation, education and jobs for young people, Morial rebuilt a dying and decaying urban center into a great American city, restoring the City of New Orleans once again to its international prominence.
Across the United States, Republicans, Democrats, fellow mayors, governors, legislators, congressmen, senators and business executives recognize Morial as "a new American mayor," one not defined by the limits of his governmental responsibilities. As President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Morial developed and advocated a united national urban policy. He is a respected expert on national policy and its impact on cities. His colleagues described him as well-suited to lead the non-partisan national mayors organization, where he impacted urban public policy in the arts, transportation and infrastructure, the environment, crime prevention, housing, jobs and recreation.
As President of the National Urban League since 2003 he has been the primary catalyst for an era of change -- a transformation for the nearly 100 year old civil rights organization. His energetic and skilled leadership has expanded the League’s work around an Empowerment agenda, which is redefining civil rights in the 21st century with a renewed emphasis on closing the economic gaps between Whites and Blacks as well as rich and poor Americans. Under his stewardship the League has had record fundraising success towards a 250MM, five year fundraising goal and he has secured the BBB nonprofit certification, which has established the National Urban League as a leading national nonprofit.
His creativity has led to initiatives such as the Urban Youth Empowerment Program to assist young adults in securing sustainable jobs, and Entrepreneurship Centers in 5 cities to help the growth of small businesses. Also, Morial created the National Urban League Empowerment Fund, which has pumped almost $200 million into urban impact businesses including minority business through both debt and equity investments.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and African American Studies, he also holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., as well as honorary degrees from Xavier University, Wilberforce University, and the University of South Carolina Upstate. He currently serves as an Executive Committee member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Black Leadership Forum, and Leadership 18, and is a Board Member of the Muhammad Ali Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by Ebony Magazine, as well as one of the Top 50 Nonprofit Executives by the Nonprofit Times.
Born in New Orleans, Morial is the second of five children of the city’s first African-American mayor, the late Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial, a lawyer, and Sybil Haydel Morial, a teacher and educator. He has an adult daughter, and is married to broadcast journalist Michelle Miller. Together they have two young children.
Want to Learn More About This Year’s MESC?
For more information about the MicroEdge Solutions Conference, please visit www.microedgeconference.com or contact Jane Lee at jlee@microedge.com or 646-237-3915.