NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous
Benjamin Jealous (b. 1973) grew up in Pacific Grove, California. A graduate of Columbia University, he earned a master’s degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar. He quickly advanced to leadership positions in advocacy organizations. In 1999 he became executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He was named director of Amnesty International’s U.S. Human Rights Program in 2002 and president of the Rosenberg Foundation in 2005. At age 35, in 2008, he became the youngest president in the NAACP’s history. Jealous plans to focus on a set of core civil rights issues including education, economic empowerment, and criminal justice. He hopes to attract youth by extending the NAACP’s online presence to social networking sites. He is also reaching beyond the black community to build the NAACP’s membership.
Benjamin Jealous (b. 1973) grew up in Pacific Grove, California. A graduate of Columbia University, he earned a master’s degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar. He quickly advanced to leadership positions in advocacy organizations. In 1999 he became executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He was named director of Amnesty International’s U.S. Human Rights Program in 2002 and president of the Rosenberg Foundation in 2005. At age 35, in 2008, he became the youngest president in the NAACP’s history. Jealous plans to focus on a set of core civil rights issues including education, economic empowerment, and criminal justice. He hopes to attract youth by extending the NAACP’s online presence to social networking sites. He is also reaching beyond the black community to build the NAACP’s membership.