Over the past 50 years, we have seen immense changes and improvements in technology—from cell phones and the internet becoming commonplace in the 1990s to social media becoming the norm in the early 2000s. Over the last decade, the Houston Area Urban League has had to adjust with the times and make a seemingly inevitable transition, transforming into a digital agency that utilizes emerging technology to communicate with stakeholders and serve our community.
In 2009, social media became a key tool in the agency’s outreach and advocacy initiatives. While we benefitted from social media’s cost-effectiveness, reach, and accessibility, we were keenly aware that for many, particularly millennials and Gen Z, social media was a vital means of communication. Our presence on these platforms became essential to our strategy to engage with those who will shape and lead our justice movement in the future. Today, we have more than 8,000 followers on Facebook, close to 1,200 on Instagram, more than 3,000 on Twitter, an email database of more than 12,000 individuals, and thousands of monthly unique visits to our website.
In one instance, our collection of followers and emails became a life-saving tool. At the end of August 2017, Hurricane Harvey ravaged Houston with torrential rains that led to historic flooding. Social media was a key component of our Operation SAFE Houston efforts. We were able to provide real-time updates, sign up volunteers to distribute more than 9,000 items across the Houston area, and provide much-needed aid to approximately 1,600 families in the region.
Our agency’s programming has changed to reflect our digital reality. Our entrepreneurship center now offers an accelerator program for technology-based ventures. We aim to help minority-owned businesses use all the technological tools necessary to launch, scale and succeed in their communities. Since the accelerator program’s inception, the Houston Area Urban League has helped launch Spendebt, a tech finance venture; Twice Media Productions, a video and mobile marketing operation; and J. Hathaway, a consumer tech company.
As the Houston Area Urban League keeps pace with the latest technologies, we will not waiver from our long-established 19th century mission and vision. The technological advances of today and tomorrow will further our vision of gaining economic empowerment, providing educational opportunities and guaranteeing civil rights for the underserved.
