(Black PR Wire) New York, NY—Shalima L. McCants has joined the New York Urban League (NYUL) as its newly appointed Chief Program Officer as of September 14, 2020. Ms. McCants joins the senior leadership team after serving as Assistant Department Director for the Children and Youth Department at BronxWorks, and Immediate Past President of the New York Urban League Young Professionals (NYULYP).

As a Licensed Social Worker with non-profit experience in the areas of case management, youth development, community partnerships and higher education, in her new role, Ms. McCants will be responsible for strategic program management and expansion, data–driven planning and decision-making; staff development and coaching; partnership management, and overseeing the membership and volunteer initiatives. Her role also includes supervising NYUL’s Master of Social Work interns and serving as the Advisor to the New York Urban League Young Professionals chapter.

Prior to joining the New York Urban League, Shalima was employed for 19 years at BronxWorks, a human service organization and settlement house based in the Bronx, NY.  For the past five years, Ms. McCants served as the Assistant Department Director for the Children and Youth Department at where she managed programs serving youth and young adults 11-24 years old. Her leadership resulted in the expansion of the portfolio, particularly in enhancing services for young adults focused on addressing their educational and employment needs. Ms. McCants holds a Bachelor in Psychology from the College of New Rochelle, Master in Social work from Hunter College School of Social Work, certification for Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI) and has recently been accepted into the inaugural class for the Core Certificate Program at the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.

Ms McCants is an active member of the New York Urban League Young Professionals, an auxiliary of the New York Urban League, for the past 7 ½ years where she served, progressively, as the Membership Co-Chair, Membership Chair, Vice President, and was elected President in 2018 and served until June 2020. Her leadership as President allowed the chapter to enhance their policies and procedures, increase their partnerships with the New York Urban League, corporations and community partners and develop new initiatives to grow, engage, recognize and support the membership body.     

Nearly twenty years ago National Urban League CEO & President Hugh Price recognized the need to prepare the next generation of young professionals to take the mantle of leadership of the civil rights movement. His recognition lead to the formation of the Urban League Young Professionals who have dedicated countless volunteer hours and contributed their professional skills to the Urban League Movement. Young Professionals have gone on to take critical roles in affiliates in program, fundraising and as CEOs. 

“As the New York Urban League rounds out our Centennial Year strengthening our continued commitment to education, employment, empowerment and advocacy, we are excited to have Shalima join our team,” says New York Urban League President and Chief Executive Officer Arva Rice. “Shalima has proven to be a steward of our movement, and her proven expertise in serving under-resourced communities in New York will, no doubt, further energize our movement.”