By Chris B. Bennett
The Seattle Medium
At first glance, one could easily believe that T’wina Nobles, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Tacoma Urban League, grew up in a middle class neighborhood, attended the best schools, and doesn’t know what it is like to sleep without heat or lights because your parents couldn’t afford to pay the bill. But nothing could be further from the truth.
According to Nobles, 38, her passion to help others is fueled by her life story and the multitude of Black women who entered her life, at various stages, and held themselves to a standard of professionalsim and excellence that she strove to achieve, even as a young girl who presumably could have fallen through the cracks.
The daughter of military parents, Nobles and her brothers moved around from city to city when they were growing up. However, according to Nobles, most of the relocations had nothing to do with her parents being in the military.
“My mom was on drugs and just was really unstable, so we lived in shelters, we lived with other people, we just always moved and were completely unstable,” recalls Nobles of her childhood.
“Most of the schools we went to we didn’t even attend for a full school year,” continued Nobles. “We lived everywhere from Atlanta to Columbus, Georgia. I’ve lived in shelters by myself as a teenager, but those things helped me to develop leadership skills, helped me to rely on community, and helped me to understand the importance of the girl programs that I participated in [as a teenager].”
In addition to having to raise her brothers at a young age, Nobles was also a teen mother, who got married at the age of 19, obtained an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree while raising three children by herself when her husband was deployed in the military. Through all of her trials and tribulations, Nobles has no regrets about anything that occurred in her life because she believes it has helped mold her into the woman and the leader that she is today.
“Everything that happened to me really allows me to relate with and connect with the community,” says Nobles. “It really matured me at an early age. It allowed me to make really tough decisions to show people compassion. I survived all of that because of really great mentors and a community who said, you know, this girl has really gotten the short end of the stick and doesn’t deserve that as a child.”
Founded in 1968, the Tacoma Urban League is devoted to empowering African Americans and other disenfranchised groups to enter the economic and social mainstream. From its earliest days in the civil rights movement, through years of partnership with government and public agencies, the Tacoma Urban League has been a beacon of hope and a catalyst for change for South Puget Sound’s African American community.
However, after the retirement of Thomas Dixon, who served as president and CEO of the Tacoma Urban League for 43 years, the Urban League encountered some tough times. The organization needed a new leader who could raise funds and re-establish relationships in the community that were critical to the organization’s survival and its long-term ability to provide quality programs to the community.
Victoria Woodards, the current Mayor of Tacoma, took over as president and CEO of the Urban League and used her deep roots in the community to turn things around. She established some strong, community-based programs, like the Male Involvement program – which is part of the local My Brother’s Keeper initiative, where students receive mentoring from men of color to help provide a safe and supportive community for boys of color, where they feel valued and have clear pathways to opportunity. She also was able to secure long-term funding, and started the Tacoma Urban League’s Young Professionals, which provides a platform for young professionals, between the ages of 21 and 40, to help empower their community and change lives.
LaTasha Wortham, Board Chair of the Urban League, says that Woodards literally “brought the organization back to life.”
Nobles and Worthman both agree that Woodards set the foundation for where the organization is today – a nationally recognized affiliate of the National Urban League for their work and impact on the community that they serve.
“Victoria was definitely able to breathe life back into the Urban League,” says Nobles. “She did an incredible job and left the organization in a very healthy condition prior to me coming to the Urban League.”
Woodards, who left the position in 2017 after being elected Mayor of Tacoma, encouraged Nobles, who served as Woodards campaign manager when she was first elected to the Tacoma City Council and for her re-election campaign, to become her successor at the Urban League.
The board of directors took a chance on Nobles, who had limited non-profit experience at the time, and it has paid off. Today, the organization has a solid portfolio of programs – like the Career Empowerment Academy, which helps adult job seekers create a comprehensive career plan; a home ownership program; support programs for mothers, children and babies; and the Black Empowerment Center – that help strengthen the community that they serve.
Last summer, the organization was honored by the national organization with the Mildred Love Award for Most Improved Affiliate at the Urban League’s national convention.
Wortham says that it was Nobles leadership that’s helped return the Tacoma Urban League to national prominence. She credits Nobles with laying out a plan to the board, developing an agreeance on how they want the League to function, and having them “sign on the dotted line” as key contributors to the national recognition of their improvement.
“It’s that accountability,” notes Wortham about Nobles recipe for success at the Urban League. “When she came here, it was a complete assessment of what does this organization need throughout. And because she’s identified those things, that’s what helped drive us to getting back on track. That’s why we got the award.”
Nobles, however, is quick to point out that she didn’t do it alone, and admits that they are able to do quite a bit with a very small staff.
“We have five staff who do really incredible work,” says Nobles. “The Urban League has been able to benefit from the skills of our entire team. We work hard, we care about the Urban Leauge and we care about the community.”
Despite being the face of the organization, Nobles says that she wants people to love the Urban League as an organization, become active with the organization because they support the mission, and to support the organization so they can continue providing services to the community long after she is gone.
“I might initially bring in people to the Urban League based on personal relationships, but I want them to stay because they have built a relationship with the Urban League and not me,” says Nobles. “I want people to build a relationship with the Urban League, to love the Urban League and to take care of the Urban League forever…. That is the goal.”
As it relates to her personal story of success, Nobles says that there are many more chapters to write, but her story proves that “everybody has greatness in them” and she truly believes that anyone can turn their “story around at anytime.”
“Being homeless, being in foster care, being a teen mom, all of the statistics were stacked against me,” says Nobles. “But you have to remain focused and see what it is that you want for yourself. You imagine the corner office that you want for yourself. You tell yourself that’s the women, that’s the leader, that’s the person that I want to be and don’t let anything distract you from that goal.”
Former Seattle Medium intern Asia Key Armour contributed to this article.
