MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Urban League is pleased to announce that Catherine Wassberg, associate general counsel for Northwest Airlines, has been elected chairperson of its 24-member Board of Directors. The north Minneapolis-based non-profit also has elected seven new members to its board:  Kenneth Charles, General Mills, Inc.; Roxanne Givens, ethnicHome, Inc.; Peter Hayden, TurningPoint; Al McFarlane, McFarlane Media; Billy Russell, Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church; Kevin Wright, U.S Bank; and Leslie Wright, Minneapolis Marriott City Center.

As board chair, Wassberg will serve a one-year term and must be re-elected each year to the position. The new board members each will serve a three-year term. Wassberg and the new board members, along with the rest of the board, assumed their responsibilities this summer and were charged with leading the search for the organization’s permanent president/CEO. The entire board, which includes the interim president/CEO, will convene on September 24 at the Minneapolis Urban League’s Glover-Sudduth Center.

“Our chair and new members bring a wealth of experience and a set of established relationships with many of the communities we serve,” said David Oguamanam, interim president/CEO of the Minneapolis Urban League.  “Their leadership will be crucial as we tackle the upcoming year’s objectives and define the goals and strategies that will determine our organization’s course for the next several years.”