National Urban League President and CEO Marc M. Morial had nothing but praise for Esther L. Bush, saying “few individuals have done as much to advance racial equity and economic justice in Western Pennsylvania in the last half-century” as her.

Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Board Chair Alan Trivilino said that Bush “helped transform this important organization, which will have a lasting impact on so many in the Pittsburgh region.”

Bush, highly recognizable, personable, authentic and unabashed, has been President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh for 27 years. Today, she officially announced that she would be retiring as the leader of one of the top-rated Urban League affiliates in the country.

“I am comfortable retiring at this time because I have experienced highs and challenges that I think have brought us to where the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh is today, and I say that with a great deal of thanks to the entire community,” Bush told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, June 1. “I honestly feel like it is time for me to pass the baton, and I am so impressed and excited about what I see coming from the younger generation.”
An exact date for Bush’s retirement has not been finalized.

The year 2021 marks 41 years in the Urban League family for Bush, who graduated from Westinghouse High School in 1969. Bush earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Johns Hopkins University. She began her career as a high school teacher and later worked as a college administrator and corporate consultant. She moved progressively up the ladder in the Urban League, a release from the Urban League stated, starting in 1980 with the position of assistant director of the Labor Education Advancement Program for the National Urban League in New York City. From there, she served first as director of the New York Urban League Staten Island Branch, then as director of its Manhattan Branch. Before returning to her hometown of Pittsburgh in December 1994, Bush served as President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Hartford.

Read the full article in the New Pittsburgh Courier here