Stephanie Hightower to Prez/CEO of Columbus Urban League, release from USATF, note by Larry Eder

Stephanie Hightower has taken a position of President and CEO with the Columbus Urban League, leaving the position she had held at Columbus College of Art & Design as the vice president of Institutional Advancement. She will continue as the USATF President & Chairman.

Many sources considered Stephanie Hightower to be the odds on favorite to be the next CEO of USATF. Guess they were wrong. Hightower has raised money, developed coalitions with disparate political and ethnic groups to bring them together for the common good. That is what a leader does.

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USA Track & Field President and Chairman Stephanie
Hightower on Tuesday was announced as the new president and CEO of the
Columbus Urban League (CUL), becoming the first woman to hold that
position. She will assume her new professional duties in mid-August
while continuing to serve in USATF’s highest elected post.

“I have always been passionate about occasions to act on behalf
of the common good. This leadership role is one of those incredible
opportunities that I just couldn’t pass up,” Hightower said of her new
position with the CUL. “I look forward to once again becoming a servant
leader for the community.”

Hightower will be responsible for managing the Columbus Urban
League’s overall operations, maintaining a viable budget and sound
fiscal policies, generating funding sources and implementing its
long-term strategic plan. She will leave her position as vice president
of institutional advancement for the Columbus College of Art and Design,
which she has held since 2004. At CCAD, Hightower directed a
fund-raising drive that generated $12.5 million for capital improvements
and endowment growth. She previously served as president of
the Columbus Board of Education.

Hightower in 2008 was elected president and chairman of the
board of USATF, and her service also has included being women’s team
manager for the Olympic Games and as chairman of various USATF
committees. A member of more than a dozen U.S. national teams while a
competitive athlete, she held several American and world records and was
a member of the 1980 Olympic Team prior to retiring in 1988.

For more on the Columbus Urban League, visit www.cul.org

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body
for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the
United States. USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports,
the World’s #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the
Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport,
and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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