Samuel Gresham, Jr.

President & Chief Executive Officer
Columbus Urban League, Inc.

Samuel Gresham, Jr., a native of Greenwood, Mississippi, migrated to Chicago, Illinois where he was educated during his formative years.  He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and received a Bachelor in Urban and Regional Planning in 1974.  Additionally, he attended the Johnson Graduate School of Management of Cornell University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, for advanced training.

Mr. Gresham came to the League in June of 1985 from Housing Urban Development (HUD), where he served as Chief of Single Family Loan Management.  While at HUD, he received the agencies second highest award, the “Certificate of Merit” in 1984, and four special achievement awards.

Mr. Gresham’s extensive background involves skills in television.  He had the honor of producing the first Black Talk Show in the history of television, as well as the first Black Soap Opera in television history.  Additionally, he played minor league baseball for the Chicago White Sox’s.

During 1994, as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Columbus Urban League, Inc., he completed the construction of a new headquarters building at a cost of $2.3 million dollars; equipped with the latest state of the art computer system.  In 1995, the League obtained a $1.1 million dollar grant from HUD for drug prevention in public housing.  In 1999, the Columbus Urban League, Inc., was selected in a national competition for a $3.1 million dollar grant from the Department of Labor hard to serve welfare to work program.

Civic Involvement Include: 

1982 - 1984, Chairman of the Board, City of Columbus Board of Housing  Appeals

1987: Founding Member, Ohio Commission on African-American Males

1988 – 1984, Member of the Board of Directors, Columbus State Community College

1986 – 1989, Chairman of the Board, Franklin County Housing Council of Central Ohio

1986 – 1988, Member of the Board of Directors, Girl Scouts of Central Ohio

1989 – 1991, Member of the Board of Directors, Jobs for Ohio Grads

1997, Founding Member of the Columbus Relations Commission, City of Columbus

1996 –1998, Chairman of the Board of Directors, District One, State of Ohio School to Work System

1996 – 2000, Co-Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Ohio's BEST

1999 – 2002, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Franklin County Commission Housing Advisory

Commission

2000, Member of the Board of Directors & Co-Vice-Chair of Strategic Planning Committee, Franklin County and Columbus Housing Trust

2003, Chairman for the Accountability Committee for Special Projects, Columbus Public Schools;

Honors and Awards

1980, Special Achievement, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Columbus, OH

1982, Special Achievement, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Columbus OH

1984, Certificate Merit (HUD Second Highest Award), Dept. of Housing & Urban Development,  Washington, DC

1989, The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award, Columbus State Community College

1992, Golden Ruler Award, Columbus Public Schools

1993, Golden Ruler Award, Columbus Public Schools

1993, Special Alumni Recognition, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois

1994, Jack Resler Award, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai-Brith-Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana - Regional Advisory Board

1995, Presidents Award, Blue-Chip Foundation

1996, Barbie Duran Leadership Award, NAACP Columbus Chapter

1998, Community Service Award, Nation of Islam

1999, Liberty Bell Award, Columbus Bar Association

1999, Census Hero Award from the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, House of Representatives

2000, The Presidents Award, NAACP Columbus Branch

Who's Who in Black Columbus 2002 – 2003 Edition Commemorative Cover Appreciation

2002, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, Columbus Education Association

Professional Affiliations

1986 - 1989, Ohio Council of Urban Leagues, Columbus

President

1989 - 1992, National Urban League Association of Executives, New York

Central Regional Vice President

1993 - 1994, National Urban League Association of Executives, New York

Second Vice President

1994 - 1997, National Urban League Association of Executives, New York

First Vice President

1997 - 1999, National Urban League Association of Executive, New York

President

1997 -1999, National Urban League, New York

Member of the Board of Directors

2002 - Present, National Urban League Center for Equity & Opportunity, Washington, D.C

Member of the Board of Directors

With all of his achievements, he is proudest of his family, his wife Katherine and children, Samuel III, Ryan, Candance and Charles.