Hopefully, New Navigation For The NAACP

Bruce S. Gordon
President and Chief Executive Officer


Effective August 1, 2005, Bruce S. Gordon, assumed the position of President & CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), after a 35 year career in the telecommunications industry.

Before retiring in December 2003, Bruce was president - Retail Markets Group for Verizon Communications, responsible for the company's consumer and small business customers. He also directed corporate advertising and brand management. Gordon managed a 35,000 person work force and was accountable for $23B in revenue.

Bruce began his career 1968 as a management trainee with a company that began as Bell of Pennsylvania, became Bell Atlantic and is now Verizon Communications. He advanced through assignments in personnel, operations, and sales and marketing. In 1985, he was appointed vice president – sales and subsequently served as group president – consumer and small business services and group president – enterprise business.

In May 2006, Ebony magazine named Bruce to its “100 Most Influential Black Americans and Organization Leaders” list. In July 2002, he was ranked #6 on Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Black Executives” list. Black Enterprise magazine named him "1998 Executive of the Year." He is a member of the boards of CBS and Tyco International, Ltd., a trustee of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation, and a member of the Executive Leadership Council. Previously, Bruce served on the boards of Southern Company, Office Depot, Best Foods, Infinity Broadcasting and Bartech Group. He was also a trustee of Gettysburg College and Lincoln Center.

Born in Camden, New Jersey on February 15, 1946 he received a B.A. from Gettysburg College, a M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and an honorary doctorate from Gettysburg College. Bruce is married to Tawana Tibbs, a Washington, D.C. native. He has one son, Taurin, who resides in Philadelphia, PA.