1949-
Barbara Bell Coleman is President of BBC Associates and a board member of the merged MCJ Amelior Foundation, Schumann Fund for New Jersey and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. She is co-founder and trustee emeritus of the Branch Brook Park Alliance, which she helped found in 1999.
Barbara has served as CEO / Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark and President of The Amelior Foundation. She was appointed executive director in 1983 and said, “What I seek to give our community’s children is a better understanding of…how they as young people can make contributions both as good leaders and good citizens.”
Barbara also worked as social services field director for a substance abuse treatment center and then worked as Chief of Prevention for the Department of Health’s Division of Narcotics and Drug Abuse Control. She also worked as a consultant for PriceWaterhouseCooper’s minority recruitment and retention program.
Barbara has served on boards including New Jersey Performing Arts Center, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Newark Museum of Art, Horizon Blue Cross & Blue Shield of New Jersey, Hilton Corporation and Caesars Entertainment.
Born Barbara Wright, Barbara is the daughter of Black Power advocate Nathan Wright Jr. She graduated Rutgers-Newark in 1974. In 1969 she married Benjamin Bell. In 1997 she married Claude Coleman.
Bibliography
Ancestry.com census and marriage records
“Newark Director for Youth Club” Star Ledger Aug 28, 1993
https://bgcn.org/barbara-bell-coleman/
Newark Library Digital Collections 1 2 3
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/obituaries/nathan-wright-jr-black-power-advocate-dies-at-81.html
Johnson, Trudy “New Director is Hired” Star Ledger Aug 22, 1983
“Federal grant…” Star Ledger Sept 19, 1983
“Corporate CEO…” Star Ledger Apr 7, 1992
“Stand with the Best” Star Ledger Apr 25, 2004
“Cherry blossoms would…” Star Ledger Apr 24, 2007
https://njitvector.com/18827/features/the-legacy-of-branch-brook-park/