Former NAACP Head Leads Kapor Center’s East Coast Office

When Benjamin Jealous announced he was stepping down from the leadership of the NAACP last fall, he set his sights on academe.

But instead of accepting a professorship at his alma mater, Columbia University, as he was originally slated to do, the veteran civil-rights activist took on a much different role with a social-justice bent: running the first East Coast office of the Kapor Center for Social Impact, a group in Oakland, Calif., that helps disadvantaged youths gain technology experience and career options in the field.

The new office is based in Baltimore—like Oakland, a poor city with a mostly minority population. The Kapor Center was spun off a year ago from the foundation started by Mitchell Kapor, inventor of the Lotus 1-2-3 computer application.

In addition to starting the Kapor Center’s new East Coast Office, Mr. Jealous has taken a partnership position with Kapor Capital, the tech mogul’s socially minded investment firm. He is bringing a handful of former NAACP employees with him.

Long Relationship

The nonprofit leader cited his long relationship with Mr. Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, as one factor in his career decision.

During his tenure at NAACP, the couple frequently held fundraising events for the civil-rights group at their home on Martha’s Vineyard. They have known Mr. Jealous for more than a decade, since his days as president of the Rosenberg Foundation, in San Francisco.

“I was also intrigued by the fact that Kapor seeks out those who solve the problems of the underserved,” says Mr. Jealous, who started his new job in February.

“If you live in San Francisco, chances are there are tons of people in Silicon Valley working to find ways to solve a lot of your problems. We’re trying to do what the valley does for a different group of people, both through Kapor Capital and the center.”

In Baltimore, he sees a city that could benefit from a tech infrastructure that, in terms of human resources, is 10 times larger than that of Silicon Valley’s.

“There are 35,000 computer professionals in Maryland,” he says.

“We’ll look toward them for solutions that will transform Baltimore, particularly when it comes to technology. It’s the next great place to be.”