Print

Urban League Still Mum on Willingham

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

August 13, 2009

A month after James Willingham resigned as head of the Urban League of Greater Hartford, the organization says it is moving forward with a months-long search for his replacement.

Neither Willingham nor the Urban League has said why he left his position. Asked this week for more information, Urban League board Chairman Richard Barry repeatedly declined to comment on Willingham's resignation. Efforts to reach Willingham were unsuccessful.

"We continue to reach out to our partners in the community to assure them that the management team and board are fully engaged and committed to the mission of the Urban League of Greater Hartford of empowering communities and changing lives," Barry said in a statement. "We are ensuring them that we are committed to continuing to provide our important services to our clients and the greater Hartford community."

Willingham filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy earlier this year and resigned less than five months later. In February, he was disciplined by the organization for violating his contract when he accepted a $15,000 consulting job from Diggs Construction -- the firm overseeing the city's school construction -- while getting paid $185,000 as the league's director.