By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Stanley

The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati will announce today that Donna Jones Stanley will succeed the retiring Sheila Adams as the organization's president and chief executive officer.

Stanley, 47, was unanimously approved last month by the Urban League's board of trustees after a yearlong search for Adams' successor. She will begin her two-month transition to the job Nov. 3.

For the past 14 years, Stanley has been the executive director of Associated Black Charities, a Maryland-based nonprofit that provides grants for community programs.

Urban League officials touted Stanley as a visionary with superb leadership skills. They noted that during her time as executive director of Associated Black Charities, Stanley nearly tripled the operating budget, but increased the grant-making budget six-fold. She also increased individual members and institutional sponsors from 300 to more than 14,000.

"She's a dynamic leader who took a fledgling $700,000-a-year organization and turned it into a $20 million-a-year operation," said Adams.

Adams will end a 10-year stint as Urban League president Dec. 31. During her tenure, Adams increased the Urban League's funding by 700 percent and added more than 15 new programs in work force and youth development.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com