Our Pastor
Pastor Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr., MPA
Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. began his community work serving as the Community Outreach Specialist for the Healthcare Education Project, a public-private organization formed by the Greater New York Hospital Association and the 1199SEIU labor union, geared towards bringing healthcare awareness to Western New York. During his time there, Wingo worked on several campaigns for healthy living, worked in tandem with the faith-based community to disseminate information regarding health and wellness, and also was responsible for facilitating the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) for the City of Buffalo through the NYS of Health Marketplace. After serving in this capacity for several years, Wingo returned to Buffalo Public Schools as a substitute teacher. There, Wingo not only ensured the students received a quality and consistent educational experience, he went further to begin serving as the Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Buffalo at BUILD Academy to ensure that his students had quality high-yielding programming to enrich their academic experience.
As a dedicated educator and community advocate, diligently working to build the capacity of the people of his community, Wingo’s next chapter led him to apply for community work through Buffalo Promise Neighborhood (BPN), another public-private organization funded through M&T Bank and the Westminster Foundation. Wingo served as the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program Coordinator. There, Wingo was tasked with the challenge of changing the perception of crime and safety within a one-mile radius of an area which had been plagued with a plethora of hot-spots (areas of concentrated crime). Though strategic planning and purposeful use of evidence-based practices, Wingo was able to lead the charge against violence through implementing and overseeing a referral program that linked youth and families with the resources they needed, garnered support for community policing through BCJI meetings with partners and stakeholders, and rolled out the first of its kind BPN Community Report-Out which informed the community of all the initiatives, programs, projects, and sucesses of BPN’s community safety-plan.
While Wingo was yet enjoying his community work serving as a program coordinator for a reputable institution, his desire had always been to increase his footprint which resulted in his decision to run for elected office. Wingo sold his candidacy and his agenda to his community through his passion and deliberate plan to bring about positive change. After a very long and contentious primary, Wingo pulled out a victory and went on to win the general election in 2015 to become the first candidate in recent history to win the Masten District Council Member seat without having any prior political experience or affiliations. Hard work, dedication, followed through with hope and vision were key to Wingo’s victory. Council Member Wingo has lived in the Masten district his entire life and has the necessary history of the community and skill-sets to rebuild and restore Masten District to an area where families want to work, play, and raise their children. Wingo’s agenda, namely the New Neighborhoods Initiative (NNI), for the district consists of the following five priorities: Employment Education, Financial Literacy, Civic Engagement, Crime and Safety, and Strengthening Community. The latest initiative that Wingo has implemented birthed out of the NNI is the Incentivized Block-Club Program (IBP). This IBP calls for cooperation and strong collaboration between current and future block clubs to build pride and ownership on their streets and in their neighborhoods. Currently, Wingo’s initiative has encouraged and activated almost twice the number of block clubs that were active prior to his administration. To ensure sustainability,Wingo strongly believes in the need to build the capacity of the people and to encourage the people to participate in the process.
As Masten District Councilman, Wingo currently serves as the Chair for the Committee on Civil Service, has served as Chair for the Committee on Education, and currently serves on the Finance, Waterfront Development, and MWBE Committees. Council Member Wingo, as the incumbent, handedly won the 2019 democratic primary in a four-way race to move on to the general elections that he won in a landslide in November 2019.
Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. serves as the Senior Pastor of the historic Antioch Baptist Church in The City of Buffalo. He has served in this capacity since 2016. Under Pastor Wingo’s leadership, the congregation has seen a more than 65% growth in membership, maintained the food pantry that feeds several hundred families per week, replaced the roof on their historic 100+yr old administration building, repaired the parking garage, purchased a new van for members who need transporting, replaced the entire campus lighting with LED technology, installed a new state-of-the-art digital sound system, repointed the brickwork on our historic edifices, and completely excavated and replaced the church’s roughly 1.2acre parking lot with ADA parking. Pastor Wingo is currently the 2ndVice President of the Baptist Minister’s Conference of Buffalo New York & Vicinity, Inc. and has served as Program Chair where he was directly responsible for the outreach and coordination of community initiatives for more than 100 area churches and ministers totaling over 100K parishioners. Pastor Wingo also serves on the Concerned Clergy Coalition of WNY, Concerned Citizens Following the Dream Committee, The Annual GospelFest Committee of Buffalo, and Board of Directors for the Community Action Organization (CAO).
Lastly, Wingo serves as a part-time Asst. Professor for the State University of New York at Erie teaching business to inspiring scholars; as well as serving as Asst. Professor at Houghton College where he teaches political science, business and nonprofit marketing, and personal finance.
Wingo holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from Houghton College and a Master of Public Administration from Buffalo State College. The Honorable Councilman is married to the love of his life, Mrs. JoAnna Lonell Wingo, M.Ed, who serves as Dean of a community charter school, President of the regional Minister's Wives and Widows of the Great Lakes Missionary Baptist Association, President of the local Minister's Wives and Widows of Buffalo, NY & Vicinity, and Corresponding Secretary for the Statewide Minister's Wives & Widows of Empire Missionary Baptist Convention. Together, they have raised their five children: Liliahna, Ulysees Jr., Ruby D., Jonelle, and Kennedy.