Nelson Rivers named COO, Paula Edme to head field operations

New Crisis, The, Nov/Dec 2002 by Petrie, Phil

Nelson B. Rivers III has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of the NAACP. Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the NAACP, made the announcement Aug. 13.

Mfume noted Rivers' long and dedicated service to the association. "After many years in the field, he now has a chance to use his administrative skills internally on a day-to-day basis at the national office," he said. Rivers, who had been chief of Branch and Field Services, began serving as COO Sept. 3.

Rivers says he plans to "achieve greater communications among the staff of the national office and its customers." He views the NAACP's units, branches, youth councils and college chapters as valued customers and wants to treat them that way. Rivers cites fulfilling the partnership the national office has with the national board of directors as another priority.

A South Carolina native, Rivers was a protege of the late William Gibson, former chairman of the NAACP national board of directors. Rivers began working for the NAACP in 1976. Before joining the national staff as chief of Branch and Field Operations in 1999, he served as a youth council adviser, branch vice president, branch president, state conference president and director of Region V, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Rivers, a 1972 Wilberforce University graduate, was ordained as a minister in 1991 and is a Wilberforce trustee.

Mfume also announced that Paula Brown Edme will replace Rivers as chief of Field Operations, the department's new name. Edme previously served as director of Region II, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New England and Europe.

"Paula has served us with tenacity, wit and unparalleled dedication," Mfume said in a statement.

As head of the national branch office she will "further enhance the work of our units and volunteers nationwide."

An NAACP staff member since 1980, Edme received the Medgar Evers Award of Excellence at the NAACP's 2001 annual convention. The award is presented each year to two NAACP employees (one professional staff member and one support person) who provided outstanding service and exhibited sincere dedication and commitment to the NAACP.

"I am honored that Mr. Mfume has selected me for this position to build upon the legacy of my predecessors, Rivers, Mark Clack, William Penn and Glouster B. Current," Edme says.

"I look forward to working with all of the dedicated members and supporters of the association."