Roslyn Brock


Roslyn McCallister Brock is an African-American civil rights leader, healthcare executive, and health activist. She was selected to succeed Julian Bond as chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on February 20, 2010, becoming the fourth woman and the youngest person to serve in the position.

Early life and education

Brock was born in 1965 in Fort Pierce, Florida. She received her bachelors degree from Virginia Union University, graduating magna cum laude in 1987. She earned three masters, in healthcare administration from George Washington University in 1989, in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1999, and in divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in 2009.

Career

Brock worked for ten years in healthcare management at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. She has served as the Vice-President of Advocacy and Government Relations for Bon Secours Health System in Marriottsville, Maryland.

NAACP involvement

Brock joined the NAACP in 1984 as a freshman at Virginia Union University, and she was named a Youth Board Member the following year. Her 1989 master's thesis, under the supervision of NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks, was entitled "Developing a NAACP Health Outreach Program for Minorities." Beginning in 1991, she initiated Health Symposiums at the annual NAACP National Conventions. She also served as Vice Chairman of the NAACP Health Committee. She was appointed Chair of the Convention Planning Committee in 1999.
In February 2001, Brock was unanimously elected Vice Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors at the age of 35. She was the youngest to be named to the position and the first woman to serve.
Julian Bond, who had served as NAACP Chairman from 1998, stayed on in the position through 2009 as the organization celebrated its 100th anniversary. Brock was chosen as Bond's successor on February 20, 2010, at the age of 44. She is the youngest person ever to serve as NAACP Chairman.

Memberships

Brock is a member of the Board of Trustees of The George Washington University, and past chair of the Board of Advisors of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, as well as being a member of the Kellogg School of Management Global Advisory Board at Northwestern University, and Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the American Public Health Association, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Miscellaneous

"Courage will not skip this generation!" is Brock's trademark mantra.

Personal life

Brock was married to Randall Eugene Brock, who died in 1995. She currently resides in Elkridge, Maryland.