Sheena L. Wright: A New York City “First” in Nonprofit and Government Leadership
By Fern Gillespie
Sheena L. Wright believes in smashing glass ceilings. A woman and history making “first” in both New York City nonprofits and in government, Wright was the first woman named president and CEO of United Way of New York City. Currently, she serves as First Deputy Mayor of New York City, the first Black woman to hold that position.
Her impact landed her on New York’s top influential lists from Crain’s New York to City & State magazine. It’s made her a role model for many New York City women climbing the nonprofit and government careers ladders. But, who is Wright’s role model, a woman who holds bachelor’s and law degrees from Columbia University?
Wright will tell you her role model is Debra Fraser- Howze, founding president and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, who just happens to be her mom. “The role model of all role models is my mother. She was actually a teenage mom. She had my older sister when she was 15 and me when she was 17. What was so special about my mother was that even though she was a teenage parent in the Bronx with very young kids, she did not allow anyone to determine what her outcome would be,” Wright said. Debra Fraser- Howze was determined to better her life and the lives of her children. “She went to a high school for teenage girls and then to Hunter College, sometimes taking me and my sister when a babysitter was not available. I remember being in the back of the class raising my hand. I thought I was a student. My mother finagled us to better schools. We were able to get scholarships to go to boarding school for high school. She was always right there making sure we had what we needed.”
Not satisfied with a bachelor’s degree, Howze earned a master’s degree and worked with Harriet Michel at the New York Urban League, mentoring teenage girls. “It was the 1980s and teenage girls were having unprotected sex with their male partners and contracting HIV. It was ripping through the community in a very devastating way,” recalled Wright. “Then my mother worked with churches and started the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, bringing awareness and resources to the Black community as related to HIV. It became a national organization responsible for billions of dollars of resources and policy changes on health equity as it relates to the Black community. She was on President Clinton’s Advisory Council on AIDS, President Bush asked her to consider continuing to serve. She is a public health legend.”
When Howze retired from the National Commission on AIDS, she passed the baton to C. Virginia fields. It’s now the Black Leadership Commission on Health. She created another initiative called Choose Healthy Life and it’s in 50 cities and hundreds of churches around the country. Initially focused on testing and vaccinations for COVID-19, it now focuses on healthcare and chronic diseases that significantly impact Black people. Rev. Al Sharpton is one of the co-chairs; the late Rev. Calvin Butts III was the other.
Wright spent five years as a corporate lawyer. She then decided to transition into nonprofit advocacy, like her mother. “I was practicing law at a corporate firm and felt it wasn’t speaking to me through my soul. I felt like I was called to spend my life doing something else,” she explained. “I was a member of Abyssinian and an opportunity to lead the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC) came my way. Building affordable housing, commercial development, schools, and social services for seniors and homeless families—the whole gamut. It was wonderful.”
Rev. Calvin Butts was her boss and mentor. “I learned so much from him about leadership—about standing in your faith and about being determined in the face of obstacles,” she said. “He was brilliant at problem-solving, bringing together the community, and working with the government. I really saw and lived this cross-sector collaboration of corporate, government, and nonprofit and how it all had to come together in an aligned, coordinated way.”
After 10 years at ADC, “I wanted the opportunity to have a broader impact,” Wright recalled. The United Way of New York City (UWNYC) fulfilled that desire. She became the first woman to hold the position of president and CEO in the organization’s history and the most visible Black woman executive leading a major New York City nonprofit. “United Way works across the city in every borough. There were more corporate partners, and they worked closely with the government.”
She started Read NYC, a citywide campaign helping third-graders read at grade level. Research reveals that third-grade reading is the biggest predictor of whether a student will graduate from high school. “Prison planners can look at third-grade test scores and determine how many jails they’re going to need,” Wright explained. “We can look at inmates right now at Rikers and approximately 60% of them are dyslexic or have other learning disabilities.”
Following Eric Adams’ win as Mayor of New York City, he tapped Wright to chair his transition committee. She headed a team that hired 70 commissioners and leaders. “I knew Eric Adams and his career trajectory. He was always about getting stuff done and really had some impressive results when he was a police officer, state senator, and borough president.”
Wright left United Way to join the Mayor’s Office as deputy mayor for Strategic Initiatives. Her initiatives included childcare and education, clearing vouchers so 36,000 children could apply for low-cost, highquality child care. She co-led the Joint Taskforce to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time, unlocking more than $4.2 billion in contractual dollars for over 460 large and small organizations. She also co-led the city’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, forging the way for
Rev. Calvin Butts was her boss and mentor. “I learned so much from him about leadership—about standing in your faith and about being determined in the face of obstacles,” she said. “He was brilliant at problem-solving, bringing together the community, and working with the government.
New York City’s summer youth employment program offering jobs to 100,000 young people.
In December 2022, still shattering that glass, Wright accepted the position offered to her by Mayor Adams—first deputy mayor of the City of New York. “I’m determined, focused, and goal-oriented,” she said. “I understand the way we get things done is through collaborations and breaking down the silos between agencies in order to get things done.”
New York City’s major nonprofit leadership has been notoriously segregated for decades. Wright observed an increase in hiring Black women in top leadership roles in recent years at the major New York nonprofits. “People look for very strong leadership. When you are a Black woman, you deal with biases and barriers just because of who you are. I think Black women have to push through and persevere with a level of strength and tenacity. That is being realized in many ways for the first time,” she said. “Quite frankly, Black women get it done.”
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