Title
Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Philadelphia Urban League CEO and Executive Director Robert W. Sorrell.
Body
WHEREAS, Robert W. Sorrell was born June 14, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan, to his parents, Josephine and James Sorrell. Bob attended Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree, became a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and was a member of the college's NAIA National Scoring Championship Basketball Team. Bob subsequently received his Master's Degree from the H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, PA; and
WHEREAS, Bob began his career as a mathematics teacher and basketball coach, at the secondary level, in the Cleveland Ohio public school system. This effort was followed by a storied career in non-profit executive leadership, corporate diversity and inclusion consultancy, corporate governance and philanthropy; and
WHEREAS, In 1978, after serving for five years as Deputy Executive Director at the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Bob was named President and CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia, where he remained until 2002. Bob strengthened the League's programming in housing, education, leadership training and economic self-sufficiency. Bob developed and piloted the first citywide, subsidized, centralized childcare administrative program, which served over 4,000 families and provided $14 million for subsidized childcare, a program that was expanded statewide. He also established the first State of Black Philadelphia Report, an annual assessment that provided findings and solutions to key urban issues in the City; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, Sorrell established the Philadelphia Urban League's first Leadership Institute, now called the Urban Leadership Forum, for Black, Hispanic and Asian candidates selected by their employers as individuals with high leadership potential in public and private sectors. Since its inception, the program has ...
Click here for full text