User:Kenneth Crooks

Kenneth Crooks is the executive director of a non-for-profit whose mission is to encourage unity and respect among the diverse populations that exist in the Chattahoochee Valley.

Crooks retired from the Presidency of the Urban League of Greater Columbus after nine years in that post. He came to Columbus from Fort Valley, Georgia where he served as Assistant Director of Development and Community Service Specialist at Fort Valley State College. He came to Columbus to assume the presidency of the Columbus Urban League.

While at Fort Valley State, Crooks became involved with the community as an actor and soccer coach. A graduate of Leadership Peach and member of the Peach County Chamber of Commerce, he was involved in building better race relations in Peach County.

During his college days at Amherst, he played soccer and became the second African American member accepted into the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity in Massachusetts. From Amherst he moved to Atlanta and earned a Master’s Degree from Atlanta University. While studying there, he became involved in the Atlanta University Center Student Movement as the president of the Graduate School student body, participating in marches, sit-ins, and representing the student body to the AU Center President’s Council and to civil rights leaders who were then struggling to desegregate the City of Atlanta. Upon graduation, he worked for the president of Atlanta University and opened the first Placement Office for the AU Center, which enabled many black “firsts” in corporate America by the employment of graduates of Center schools. While at AU Crooks became part of the Student Movement and grew committed to Martin Luther King’s nonviolent approach to civil rights.

Crooks accepted an offer from Whitney Young to join the National Urban League, and there he extended the League’s job placement program and was employed as Assistant Director for the Southern Regional Office. “The best part of my new job,” he recalls, “was getting students on the Historically Black College campuses all across the South to believe that corporate America wanted to hire them – if they could make the grade – regardless of the color of their skin.”

Crooks worked for the local Urban League in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, then came to Columbus where he grew the Urban League of Greater Columbus to an 8-person staff. Under his leadership, the CASA and Computer Training programs came to the affiliate. He built strong ties with corporate Columbus and was commended by the National Urban League for his efforts in economic development and employment. He was named Man of the Year in 2002 and was recognized by his peers in their selection of him to serve as president of the Council of Urban Leagues for the Southern Region. He was successful in bringing the National Urban League’s Southern Regional Conference to Columbus and established the Allstate Educational Excellence program. The Economic Development and Employment Department built a solid record of finding employment for hard-to-place individuals during his tenure, and through several HUD grants, the agency counseled and found housing for individuals and families.

Upon retiring from the Urban League of Greater Columbus, Crooks became Special Assistant to Rev. J. H. Flakes, pastor of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church, and in that role he continued his work of reconciliation and bringing people together.

In 2003, Crooks was asked to be Executive Director of One Columbus, Inc. In that position he built the board into a cohesive unit, developed active committees, provided insight and guidance to the organization, which became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. In his One Columbus leadership he continued his personal commitment to building bridges and stimulating dialogue among diverse groups. Ken Crooks consistently manifested a passion for One Columbus and for the community in which he lives. He built strong task forces, designed meaningful programs, started the Common Ground quarterly newsletter, and provided leadership to the Inaugural Recognition Dinner, the city’s most successful diversity event in 2005.

Crooks’ leadership style is modeled after Bill Turner’s book, Servant Leadership, and he attributes much of his success to “helping competent people do their best.” He also served as secretary for the Medical Center Hospital Authority Board of Trustees, was a board member of Voyage of Discovery, Inc., Columbus For Kids, Inc., the Mayor’s Commission On Unity and Diversity, and the Center for Servant Leadership. He is a Rotarian, serves as president of the Columbus/Phenix City Chapter of the Clark Atlanta University Alumni Association and is President of the Urban League Alumni Group - a support for former Urban Leaguers.