Black Elected Officials (BEO) of the East Bay announced the election of Lynette Gibson McElhaney as the new President of the Board of Directors. The Oakland Councilwoman succeeds founding Board President and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. Gibson McElhaney assumes the presidency as BEO looks to aggressively grow its geographic footprint over the coming months to further expand its services and membership reach. The Councilwoman will also oversee the organization’s transition from being volunteer-led to having a professional paid staffing structure.

A member of the Board of Directors for four years, prior to becoming President, Councilwoman Gibson McElhaney served as BEO’s Board Secretary. Gibson McElhaney also makes history as the first women to serve as Board President since the organization’s founding in 2001.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity at such a time as this,” said Gibson McElhaney. “This is an incredibly exciting time for our Black elected leaders to confront persistent inequities and confront bigotry and bias at every level.”

BEO also announced the hiring of Kimberly Ellis as a Special Advisor to the Board, providing strategic advice and counsel on organizational and resource development. For nearly a decade, Ellis led Emerge California (the state’s premier training program for women to run for office) with incredible success, growing what had been a regional training program into a statewide electoral powerhouse for Democratic women, earning her the reputation for revolutionizing Democratic politics in the Golden State.

As a nonprofit public benefit corporation founded in 2001, the mission of BEO is to improve the quality of life for all African Americans by enhancing the quantity and quality of Black elected representation.

Today, the organization consists of over 100 elected and appointed officials from throughout the region with BEO leaders holding key elected positions representing over 2 million residents throughout the greater Bay Area.

BEO will host an Officer’s Welcome Reception from 6:00 – 8:00pm on Wednesday, January 29th at Lemat Ethiopian Restaurant in Berkeley

For more information contact blackelecteds@gmail.com

Kimberly Ellis, Black Elected Officials

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