KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Area Urban League has announced its new CEO.
Charles F. Lomax Jr. will assume the leadership position on Dec. 12. This comes after Phyllis Y. Nichols, who led the organization for two decades, announced her retirement in June.
Nichols was the longest-serving CEO of the five leaders in the organization's 54-year-history in Knoxville.
Lomax emerged from a pool of candidates considered during a national search conducted in cooperation with the National Urban League. He has severed as Knoxville's Community Empowerment Director for nearly three years. His last day in this position will be Dec. 9.
“Charles will lead with enthusiasm and commitment to our mission of equity, civil rights and economic self-reliance for all,” Nichols said. “He has the ability to bring opportunities for further engagement across all of our platforms and programs in order to deepen the work and impact of the Knoxville Area Urban League in our community.”
Lomax has helped establish the city’s Empower Knox initiative, an effort to improve the lives of at-risk youth and young adults and empower the organizations that serve them. He also helped launch Knoxville's first Youth Council and helped in the formation and progress of the African American Restoration Equity Task Force.
Lomax has also served as the pastor at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Alcoa for more than a decade.
Lomax holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from The University of Tennessee. He also holds a Master of Divinity in homiletics from Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center and a doctorate in divinity and ministry from Emory University.
“It is an honor to be entrusted with the great responsibility of leading the Knoxville Area Urban League and furthering its mission of empowering the underserved,” Lomax said. “Our community deserves economic self-reliance, education, social and racial justice, and knowing that all residents are secure in their civil rights. I am grateful to be part of the organization’s work to achieve those goals.”
On Thursday, Lomax told WBIR what his main focus is as he starts his new position. He said the Urban League is already doing important things, but with an election cycle coming up, there's work to do.
"We're in the middle of an election cycle right now and want to make sure that we are empowering our community to vote to exercise that right," said Lomax.
While Lomax enjoyed working for the City of Knoxville Under the Kincannon Administration, he could not pass up the opportunity to the local chapter of the Urban League.
"This is one of those opportunities that is a for me once in a lifetime."