About Phyllis

Phyllis Young Nichols is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of the Knoxville Area Urban League. Mrs. Nichols joined the Urban League as a curriculum and education specialist in l994 after many years in public education and private business. As chief executive since 2000, she expanded the Urban League impact to serve over 11,000 individuals and families annually through programs to provide a skilled and diverse workforce; to increase and retain homeownership; to support economic and small business development, to gain certification of the affiliate as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and to advocate for equity and excellence in education for students of color. 

A graduate of East TN State University and University of TN, Knoxville, Mrs. Nichols has completed continuing education and leadership courses at the University of Tennessee, Whitney M. Young, Jr. Center for Urban Leadership; and the Duke University Center for Executive Leadership. She is a 2003 graduate of Leadership Knoxville: the TBI and FBI Citizens Academies and Class V of Leadership Tennessee.

Mrs. Nichols has received numerous awards and recognitions including the “Be More” Person of the Year by East TN Public Television and the University of TN College of Communications and Information –Diversity Award. The TN Human Rights Commission and the Knoxville NAACP recognized Phyllis Y. Nichols for her advocacy for civil rights and social justice. The YWCA of Knoxville Tribute to Women named Phyllis Y. Nichols as one of thirty remarkable women who have impacted the community in the last 30 years. She received the 2016 Lizzie Crozier French Leadership Award presented by the East Tennessee Women’s Leadership Council and the 2022 Jim Haslam Business Leadership Award by the Knoxville Chamber.

Phyllis considers her greatest accomplishments, wife to Jim; mom to Tiffany and Allison and YaYa to their granddaughters.