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Saturday, July 26, 2003

By Ervin Dyer, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

At 26 years old, Nataki Goodall is living in New York City, works on Wall Street at the National Urban League headquarters and, in a few weeks, she will ink a deal on her first home, a two-bedroom co-op in Brooklyn.

	Kimberly Nichols, left, and Jenna Foster, both of Omaha, Neb., discuss the evening's events yesterday during the second day of the Urban League National Conference. (Doreena Balestreire, Post-Gazette) Related coverage: What they're saying about economic success Conference highlights Index to Urban League coverage

By most measures, she's living a charmed life.

It's one she believes she can make even better.

"I want to leave something tangible to pass on," she said, chatting with a visitor in between calls on her cell phone and directing participants to a nearby workshop.

Goodall, program director for the national Urban League Young Professionals, was one of 255 members of the group that was on hand to kick off "Training Ground: A Next Generation Leadership Institute."

The young professionals will gather through tomorrow for a series of meetings, seminars and forums at the Pittsburgh Hilton and Towers and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

They began yesterday with a session on how to accumulate wealth and use it to break the cycle of poverty.

	President, Democratic candidates to visit President Bush is scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh on Monday morning to address the National Urban League Conference. He will be blazing a trail for a group of candidates vying to replace him. After his late morning remarks, seven of the nine Democratic candidates for president are scheduled to join the Urban League delegates in a presidential forum in the David Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. The candidates will address the group and take questions from a moderator. Before his remarks to the convention, Bush plans to recognize Xavier D. Williams, a board member of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, for his volunteer work with young people. Williams has been a teacher for a program teaching computer skills to inner-city youth, and since 1998 has worked with minority young people with Inroads, a nonprofit corporation that links young adults with local businesses. -- James O'Toole

The young professionals' circle includes entrepreneurs, educators, scientists and artists. The group's 2,000 members are mostly college-educated and seeking ways to nurture career and personal growth. There are 39 chapters among the 105 Urban League affiliates. The Pittsburgh group is 2 years old and has about 80 members.

Through mentoring and efforts to build economic self-sufficiency, the young professionals believe they can help raise the visibility of the Urban League.

It's a tradition they are proud to be a part of.

However, as they settled down for yesterday's workshop, forging a strong economic future was the topic of discussion.

The young professionals were warned to stay away from vices such as materialism, addictions and ignorance, which rob youth of economic empowerment.

"It's advice we need to listen to," said Goodall, "because our generation has had economic and educational opportunities our parents did not. We have to take advantage of it."

Goodall began her own education a few months ago. She took a finance workshop through the young professionals group in New York. Schooled in establishing a budget and clearing up credit blemishes, she built a solid savings habit and made plans to purchase her own home to do away with the $1,450 she was paying in rent every month.

"At the beginning, the process was overwhelming," said Goodall, who once only thought she'd buy a home after getting married. "But once you go through it, it becomes easier."

The young professionals are in for more education. Today they will discuss contemporary approaches to civil rights issues and protecting equal access to post-secondary education. They will also hear from Kwame Kilpatrick, at 32 the youngest elected mayor of Detroit.