Pinellas Urban League names first female CEO in its history

Following a national search to recruit a new leader, the Pinellas County Urban League on Thursday announced that Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, former director of urban affairs for the city of St. Petersburg, will be its new president and chief executive officer.

She is the first woman to ever hold the position for the 46-year-old organization. She succeeds the late Rev. Watson L. Haynes II, who served for 10 years in the role.

Haynes died in August 2022 at the age of 69, heralded as a towering civil rights activist and faith leader in the city.

“I am excited to be entrusted with the opportunity to lead an organization that I have such great respect for and build on Rev. Haynes legacy,” Gaskin-Capehart said. “There is great need in our community in the areas of economic mobility and resilience, housing affordability, education, health, equity, and inclusion. I look forward to working with our board of directors, staff, partners, and clients to achieve strategic goals in these and other areas.”

She was praised by two of her former bosses, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents Florida’s congressional District 14, which covers Tampa and parts of Hillsborough County, and former Mayor Rick Kriseman. Kriseman said: “Nikki was instrumental in expanding the city’s partnership with the Urban League. I have no doubt she will bring the same spirit of excellence and innovation to her role as CEO of the agency.”

Castor said Gaskin-Capehart “has a unique ability to convene and collaborate across various platforms and demographics to deepen impact in communities.”

Gaskin-Capehart was a driving force in helping to develop Pinellas County’s largest Community Redevelopment Area, the South St. Petersburg CRA, generating $11 million in tax increment financing per year. She also helped spearhead the city’s My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper initiative — an affiliate of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.

She led St. Petersburg’s effort to focus on the equitable redevelopment of the historic Gas Plant neighborhood. The city demolished the historically Black community in the 1980s, clearing the way for what would later become Tropicana Field. Gaskin-Capehart was charged with steering the development proposals to live up to the promises made to St. Petersburg’s Black community that later did not materialize.

Her most recent venture was as CEO of the Network of Gifted Consultants, where she led the first year of the Florida Girls Initiative, a statewide network created to raise resources for policies and programs that help “at-promise” girls achieve their fullest potential.

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She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s in liberal arts from the University of South Florida. She is set to begin work on Friday.