TRIBUTE RECEPTION TO HONOR RETIRING MAUDINE R. COOPER
Staff Writer
2013-11-08
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The Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL), the GWUL Board, staff, friends, corporate partners and constituents will honor Maudine R. Cooper, GWUL president and CEO, in a tribute reception to thank her for 23 years of tireless dedication to the organization and the community. Cooper is retiring after a public service career that has spanned four decades. Tax-deductible donations starting at $25, which benefit the Maudine R. Cooper Legacy Fund, are encouraged. The donations will be used to fund the ongoing critical work of the GWUL, with a focus on enhancing internships for deserving young students.
Guest and speakers were . Vernon E. Jordan Jr.; National Urban League president Marc H. Morial; former National Urban League president Hugh B. Price; Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray; D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson; D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry; D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans; and Rushern Baker III, county executive of Prince George’s County. Other special guests include “The Apprentice” contestant Omarosa Manigault, who is the Master of Ceremony for the evening.
During her tenure at GWUL, Cooper has been the ultimate advocate of social justice for residents in the greater Washington area. Under her leadership, the GWUL has more than doubled its program offerings, launched a young professionals auxiliary, and moved into a new, larger headquarters in historic Columbia Heights. Annually, the organization provides more than 50,000 residents in the Washington, D.C., education, employment and training, health and nutrition, food and utility assistance, affordable housing and community development programs and services each year. After receiving her law degree from Howard University in 1971, Cooper joined the National Urban League in various leadership roles until 1983. She then served the Washington community under Mayor Marion Barry, Jr., first as director of the Office of Human Rights, then as head of the combined Human Rights Minority Business Opportunity Department, and finally, as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff. She joined the GWUL in 1990, and has been the driving force behind the organization’s many social justice programs and services.