The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis
Receives $2.5 Million Gift from Enterprise
Holdings Foundation and the Taylor Family
Gift Will Support Save Our Sons Program and Centennial Campaign
ST. LOUIS – July 2, 2018 – The Urban League
of Metropolitan St. Louis announced today
that it has received a $2.5 million donation
from the Enterprise Holdings Foundation and
from the Enterprise’s owners, the Taylor family.
Of that amount, $1 million will help fund the
organization’s Save Our Sons program and $1.5
million will support the Centennial Campaign
that marks the League’s 100th anniversary in St.
Louis.
“Time and time again, the Taylors and Enter-
prise have been there for us, and we’re most
grateful to them for this generous gift and their
longstanding support for the Urban League
movement, both at the local and national
levels,” said Michael McMillan, President and
CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St.
Louis. “Here in St. Louis, they clearly share
our commitment to expanding educational
and economic development opportunities and
making this community a better place for all.”
Since its establishment in 2015, the Save Our
Sons program has quickly become one of the
St. Louis Urban League’s signature initiatives.
It provides job skills training for economically
disadvantaged African-American men aged 17
and over, helping them gain the skills they need
to find and keep good jobs and earn livable
wages. So far, Save Our Sons has helped nearly
400 men become gainfully employed.
The Centennial Campaign was created to
commemorate the Urban League’s first 100
years in St. Louis. Founded in 1918, its mission
is to empower African Americans and others
throughout the region and help them secure
economic self-reliance, social equality and civil rights. Since then, the St. Louis
Urban League has grown to become the organization’s No. 1 local affiliate, as
ranked by the National Urban League. With 13 locations, 225 employees and a
$20 million budget, it serves 100,000 residents of the St. Louis region with a wide
range of programs that promote community empowerment, economic opportu-
nity, educational excellence and equality, and civil rights and advocacy.
“When it comes to our commitment to expanding economic mobility and work-
force development through education, we’ve had no greater partner over the
past two decades than the Urban League,” said Carolyn Kindle Betz, Senior Vice
President and Executive Director of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and
granddaughter of Enterprise founder Jack Taylor. “We’re honored today to cele-
brate the League’s century of service to our community and to help the Save Our
Sons program continue its tremendous record of success.”
Since the late Jack Taylor founded Enterprise Holdings in 1957, the small start-
up has grown to become the world’s largest car rental operator, with 10,000 loca-
tions in more than 90 countries and territories throughout the world, and more
than 5,600 employees in the St. Louis area alone.
Over the years, the Taylor family and Enterprise Holdings have supported the
National Urban League and its local affiliates in St. Louis and around the coun-
try. Enterprise Holdings Executive Chairman Andrew C. Taylor is a past mem-
ber of the National Urban League’s Board of Trustees and served as co-chair of
the St. Louis affiliate’s other recent capital campaign, the Second Century Fund.
The efforts of the Second Century Fund and the Centennial Campaign will cul-
minate at the end of 2018.