Warren E. Logan Jr., is retiring as head of the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga after leading and growing the local chapter of the Urban League for more than 25 years.
Logan, the 70-year-old president and CEO of the local Urban League, will be succeeded in January by Candy Johnson, a former policy director for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce who serves as a senior adviser to Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.
Logan, a former Tennessee Valley Authority manager of energy conservation programs, was named to head the local Urban League in 1995 and over the past quarter-century has helped to grow the services offered by the nonprofit civil rights organization. A graduate of Tennessee State University, Logan previously was executive director of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise and the statewide Business Development Centers. Logan has served for the past two decades on Chattanooga's Electric Power Board and has served as EPB chairman since July 2019.
"Warren is probably the single most influential African American in Chattanooga who has championed the issues of equality of inclusiveness," said Albert Waterhouse, chairman of the Chattanooga Urban League. "He has been a trailblazer throughout his career and has helped to rebuild and grow the local Urban League chapter into one that is respected around the country."
The local Urban League serves more than 15,000 people a year through education, skills development, energy efficiency, job placement and tax preparation help in and around Chattanooga.
Under Logan, the local Urban League has added the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance initiative, the Shoes 4 School program, the Building Futures Minority Contractor Training Program, the LEAPS After School Program, the Urban League's Entrepreneur Center and the Inclusion By Design Executive Leadership Program.
"When I stepped into this role more than two decades ago, I never imagined how profoundly our organization would shape the journey to racial equality in our community," Logan said. "It has been a tremendous honor to serve my brothers and sisters in pursuit of equal opportunity for all."
Waterhouse said the board of the local Urban League went through a selection process over the past six months to identify a successor to Logan.
"We had nearly 70 resumes from around the country and considered them all and finally interviewed the final three," Waterhouse said. "From a leadership and vision perspective, Candy Johnson was head and shoulders above the rest."
Staff photo by Doug Strickland / Candy JohnsonJohnson, who will assume the leadership of the local Urban League chapter on Jan. 5, has spent the past 13 years in leadership roles in community organizations. She came to Chattanooga in 2017 along with her husband, Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson.
She has been appointed to several boards, including the Erlanger Health System Foundation board, the philanthropic arm of Erlanger; the steering committee for the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition; the Tennessee Aquarium; and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga's Y-CAP program board.
Logan will be honored Thursday during a zoom session that will feature National Urban League President & CEO Marc Morial, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, Rep. Yusuf Hakeem on behalf of the State of Tennessee General Assembly, Bishop Kevin Adams and other civic leaders.
"This much-deserved celebration of Mr. Logan's accomplishments is a true testament to his dynamic leadership and forward-thinking vision," Candy Johnson said. "He has built an extraordinary legacy that will continue to inspire those around him for decades to come."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.