Leadership battle at Urban League of Long Island

A leadership battle has erupted at the Urban League of Long Island, with top officials disputing who is running the organization.

In a mass email to members and community partners late Friday, Su Chen, identified as interim board chair, said Theresa Sanders, the longtime leader of the nonprofit, was "no longer affiliated" with the group, and that an interim leader would be appointed soon.

The email gave no reason for Sanders' departure, and Chen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reached by phone Friday night, Sanders disputed Chen's announcement. 

"I am the president and CEO," she said, adding she did not know why the email was sent and that Chen was not authorized to send it.

Sanders said the nonprofit was recently notified by the National Urban League that it was on probation and needed a forensic audit of its finances.

Around the same time, Sanders' attorney, E. Christopher Murray, had approached the nonprofit's board of directors to discuss financial issues.

"Ms. Sanders has no problem working with the Board to develop proper procedures and best practices, including those related to the financial operation of ULLI," he said in a June 2 letter to the board. He cited concerns with "proposed new restrictions or procedures" that would require two people to sign off on all of the organization's expenditures, no matter how small the expenditures were.

Murray said "Ms. Sanders would like to meet with the full Board to discuss these matters and to see if there is a process where best practices for not-for-profits can be researched and adopted for ULLI."

Newsday reported in February that Sanders, who serves as a trustee on the board of Suffolk County Community College, had advocated for a college partnership that would have financially benefited the local Urban League even after she had publicly recused herself from discussions about the issue.

At issue was a proposed partnership between the nonprofit and the college to operate the new Wyandanch Technology Opportunity Center, a vocational training and community facility. The proposal, backed by Sanders and others, would have provided $2,500 in monthly revenue to the nonprofit.

Sanders said she acted appropriately because she disclosed her role and did not plan to formally vote on the arrangement, which was eventually scuttled.

According to its website, the Urban League of Long Island seeks to enable "African Americans and other disenfranchised individuals to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights."

The Long Island Urban League, an affiliate of the National Urban League, was founded in 1972.