Benjamin Todd Jealous (born January 18, 1973) is an American civil rights leader and social impact investor. He served as the president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
) from 2008 to 2013. When he was selected to head the NAACP at age 35, he became the organization's youngest-ever national leader. ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in 2013 described him as "one of the nation's most prominent civil rights leaders."
Jealous ran for
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
in the
2018 election. He ran as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, and won the party's nomination in the June 2018 primary, defeating
Prince George's County
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...
Executive
Rushern Baker
Rushern Leslie Baker III (born October 24, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland in 2010 and won re-election in 2014. In 2018 and 2022, h ...
and seven other candidates. However, he lost in the general election to the incumbent governor, Republican
Larry Hogan
Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...
.
Jealous is a partner at
Kapor Capital, Board Chairman of the Southern Elections Fund and one of the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs Visiting Professors at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. In 2013, Jealous was named a Young Global Leader by the
Davos World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
.
Jealous was selected as president of
People for the American Way, and its associated foundation, on June 2, 2020, and assumed the position on June 15. On November 14, 2022, Jealous was named the Executive Director of the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
, the first person of color to hold the position, effective Jan. 23, 2023.
Early life and education
Jealous was born in 1973 in
Pacific Grove, California
Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, in the United States. The population at the 2020 census was 15,090. Pacific Grove is located between Point Pinos and Monterey.
Pacific Grove has numerous Victorian-era houses, so ...
, and grew up on the
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula anchors the northern portion on the Central Coast of California and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and the resort and community of Pebble Beach.
History Monterey
Monterey was founded in 17 ...
. His mother, Ann Jealous (née Todd), is biracial. She worked as a psychotherapist and had grown up in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. She had participated there in the desegregation of
Western High School Western High School may refer:
Schools in the United States
*Western High School (Anaheim, California) – Anaheim, California
* Western High School (Illinois) – Barry, Illinois
* Western High School (Florida) – Davie, Florida
* Western High S ...
. She is the author, with Caroline Haskell, of ''Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism'' (2013). His father, Fred Jealous, who is white, is descended from settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, related to businessman
Joseph B. Sargent, and directly in line to inherit the fortune from the Sargent and Co business. He founded the Breakthrough Men's Community and participated in Baltimore sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters. Jealous's parents met in Baltimore in 1966. At the time, they did not openly date each other in public; when they went to the movies, they took separate paths to adjacent seats to hide their relationship. As an interracial couple, they were prohibited by state law from marrying in Maryland before 1967. They married in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and returned to live in Baltimore for a time before moving to California in the early-1970s. As a child, Jealous was sent to Baltimore to spend his summers with his maternal grandparents, who lived in the
Ashburton neighborhood. Jealous graduated from
York School in
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
in 1990.
Jealous's father was best friends with comedian
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...
's father,
William David Chappelle III; as a result, Jealous has been friends with Dave Chappelle since childhood, and the two are god-brothers.
Jealous earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. A
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, he later earned a Master of Science in comparative social research from
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...
.
Career
Early activism
At
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Jealous began working as an organizer with the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.
LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...
. As a student, he protested the university's plan to turn the
Audubon Ballroom
The Audubon Theatre and Ballroom, generally referred to as the Audubon Ballroom, was a theatre and ballroom located at 3940 Broadway at West 165th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1912 a ...
(the site of
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
's assassination) into a research facility and was suspended. During his suspension, Jealous traveled through the South. During this time
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
's three black colleges were slated to be closed because of financial difficulties. Jealous organized with the local
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
chapter to keep them fully funded and maintain their operations.
While in Mississippi, Jealous began working as a reporter for ''
Jackson Advocate
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
,'' Mississippi's oldest historically black newspaper, under the tutelage of publisher Charles Tisdale. He eventually became its managing editor. His reporting was credited with exposing corruption among high-ranking officials at the state prison in
Parchman
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a maximum-security prison farm located in unincorporated Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. Occupying about of land,[Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...]
.
After completing his degree at Oxford and returning to the US, Jealous worked as Executive Director of the
National Newspaper Publishers Association
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), formerly the National Negro Publishers Association, is an association of African American newspaper publishers from across the United States.
History
The NNPA was founded in 1940 when John H ...
(NNPA), a federation of more than 200 black community newspapers. During his term, he relocated the organization's editorial office to
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
in Washington, D.C. He set up an online syndicated news service that shared content with all of the organization's member papers.
After the NNPA, he served as director of the US Human Rights Program at
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. He focused on issues such as promoting federal legislation against prison rape, racial profiling, and the sentencing of persons to
life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) who are convicted for acts committed as children. (In 2012, the US Supreme Court ruled that such sentencing was unconstitutional, and ordered its ruling to be applied to people already in prison.) Jealous is the lead author of the 2004 report "Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States."
Jealous was President of the Rosenberg Foundation, a private foundation located in San Francisco, California from 2005 to 2008.
NAACP
![BenJealous](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/BenJealous.jpg)
Jealous was elected in 2008 as president and CEO of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
; at age 35, he was the youngest person to serve in that position. He served until late 2013. During his term, Jealous initiated national programs on criminal justice, health, environmental justice and voting rights, expanded existing programs and opened th
NAACP Financial Freedom Centerto provide financial education and banking resources.
During his tenure, the NAACP helped register 374,553 voters and mobilize 1.2 million new voters to turn out at the polls for the 2012 presidential election. It supported abolition of the death penalty in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, endorsed same-sex marriage, and fought laws it believed were intended for voter suppression in states across the country.
During Jealous's tenure, the number of NAACP's online activists increased from 175,000 to more than 675,000; its donors increased from 16,000 individuals to more than 132,000; and the number of total NAACP activists was 1.7 million.
Jealous led the NAACP to work closely with other civil rights, labor and environmental groups. In 2010 the NAACP was one of the conveners of the
One Nation Working Together Rally, which Jealous referred to as "an antidote" to the Tea Party. In June 2012, the NAACP led several thousand protesters from different groups to march down
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's Fifth Avenue in protest of the NYPD's policy of stop-and-frisk policing. In 2012 Jealous formed the
Democracy Initiative along with other progressive leaders, to build a national campaign around three goals: getting big money out of politics, supporting voting rights, and reforming broken Senate rules. Finally, in 2013 Jealous gave the keynote address at the A10 Rally for Citizenship, a major rally for immigration reform at the
US Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
.
Jealous broadened the NAACP's alliances in 2011 at the
National Press Club
Organizations
A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...
when a conservative coalition of criminal justice reform advocates endorsed an NAACP report authored by Jealous. In the report, Jealous highlights the adverse effects of over-incarceration of youth on society and the case for increasing public funding for education. In Texas later that year, the NAACP worked with leaders of the Tea Party to pass a dozen criminal justice reform measures, leading to the first scheduled prison closure in state history. Similarly, in 2013, the NAACP worked closely with Virginia Governor
Bob McDonnell
Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. His career ended after his corruption scandal and convic ...
to pass bipartisan voting rights reform that gave former offenders the chance to vote after they served the terms of their sentence.
Upon announcing his resignation in 2013, Jealous was praised by activists for his coalition-building efforts.
Jealous was noted for reviving and building the resources of the NAACP. According to ''
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' is a magazine that covers the nonprofit world of philanthropy. Based in Washington, DC, it is aimed at charity leaders, foundation executives, fund raisers, and other people involved in philanthropy. ''The Chroni ...
,'' he was:
2018 Maryland gubernatorial election campaign
![Blue Wave 2117 (44731179601)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Blue_Wave_2117_%2844731179601%29.jpg)
On May 31, 2017, Jealous announced his candidacy for governor of Maryland in the
2018 election, then held by
Larry Hogan
Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...
(R). His running mate was
Susan Turnbull
Susan Wolf Turnbull (born November 2, 1952) is an American politician who was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in the 2018 Maryland gubernatorial election, alongside candidate for governor Ben Jealous. Previously, she served as ch ...
.
Many labor and progressive groups issued early endorsements of Jealous, including the American Postal Workers Union (APWU-Maryland), Communications Workers of America (CWA), National Nurses United, the Maryland State Education Association, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), UNITE-HERE, Democracy for America, Friends of the Earth Action, the Maryland Working Families Party, Our Revolution and Progressive Maryland.
Jealous received endorsements from Senators
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
,
Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. sena ...
, and
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
, as well as longtime friend, comedian
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...
.
The Democratic primary was held on June 26, 2018. Despite trailing in polling in the months prior to the primary, Jealous and Turnbull won the primary with 40% of the vote in a nine-candidate field, 10% ahead of the second place duo.
Jealous ran on a platform that included
free college tuition,
legalized marijuana,
universal healthcare
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
, and a $15
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
for Marylanders. His views were described an analyst for
Circa News as
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
. However, Jealous disputed this characterization. On August 8, 2018, when questioned by a reporter about whether he considered himself a socialist, Jealous referred to himself as a "
venture capitalist
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...
." When the reporter asked a second time whether he was a socialist, he responded, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
In October 2018, Jealous confirmed to ''
Washington Jewish Week
''Washington Jewish Week'' (''WJW'') is an independent community weekly newspaper whose logo reads, "Serving the nation's capital and the greater Washington Jewish community since 1930." '' that he would "vow to defend" the Executive Order by Hogan related to banning companies from working with the state who boycott the Israeli Occupation and/or settlements.
This order is very similar to one the ACLU successfully challenged into suspension in Arizona as unconstitutional. Jealous's campaign added that if the ACLU was successful in suspending the Maryland order, he would "bring leaders in the Jewish community and the Maryland-Israel Development Center together ...to figure out if there's a constitutional way to discourage the BDS movement in Maryland."
The general election was held on November 6, 2018, and Jealous lost the election to the incumbent governor, Hogan by a wide margin of 11.9%.
Memberships
In 2014 Jealous became a senior partner at Kapor Capital, a firm that leverages the tech sector to create progressive social change. He also joined the
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive officer ...
as a senior fellow.
Political endorsements
Jealous is a
progressive Democrat. He endorsed
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
in his 2016 campaign for U.S. president, then supported
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
after she was nominated as candidate by the Democratic Party.
Personal life
Jealous was married to
Lia Epperson, an NAACP lawyer and law professor at
American University Washington College of Law
The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of no ...
in July 2002.
Epperson is the sister of CNBC correspondent
Sharon Epperson
Sharon Emily Epperson (born April 12, 1968) is Senior Personal Finance Correspondent for CNBC. She also appears on NBC News shows, ''Today'' and ''NBC Nightly News''.
Early life and education
Epperson is the daughter of David E. Epperson and Ce ...
.
Jealous and Epperson have two children.
The couple divorced in 2015.
Jealous has been a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
for 43 years.
Awards and honors
Jealous has earned the following awards and honors for his activism:
* In March 2009, Jealous received the
John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement from
Columbia College and in 2010 spoke as the Class Day speaker at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
* In 2010, Jealous was named to ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's "40 Under 40" rising stars of American politics.
* In 2010 and 2011, Jealous was named to the ''Nonprofit Times'' "Power & Influence Top 50" list.
* In 2012 Jealous was named to
''Fortune'' magazine's "40 Under 40" list.
* Jealous was ranked #3 on the 2012 ''
Root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
'' Top 100 list.
* In December 2012, Jealous was awarded the 2012
Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, which is given annually to an individual who has challenged the status quo through distinctive, courageous, imaginative, and socially responsible work of significance.
* In March 2013, Jealous was named a
Young Global Leader
Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...
by the Davos World Economic Forum.
* Jealous was ranked #1 on The 2013 ''Root'' Top 100 list.
* In December 2013 Jealous was named Marylander of The Year by the ''Baltimore Sun''.
See also
*''
Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading and Succeeding'', a book of personal essays edited by Jealous and Trabian Shorters
References
External links
NAACP BiographyTheLoop21.comArchive interview with NAACP President Ben Jealous
(
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090329011159/http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=33bd559f-1f49-4c80-b78c-786e70251a25 Archive by Benjamin Jealous and Julian Bond for ''The New Republic''.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jealous, Benjamin
1973 births
Living people
Activists from California
African-American people in Maryland politics
Alumni of University College, Oxford
American chief executives
American Rhodes Scholars
California Democrats
Columbia College (New York) alumni
NAACP activists
Maryland Democrats
People from Pacific Grove, California
Candidates in the 2018 United States elections
21st-century African-American politicians
21st-century American politicians
20th-century African-American people
People for the American Way people