ELBRIDGE JAMES
MBFA Director

Elbridge James is a civil rights activist and lobbyist for the NAACP in Annapolis, has been a resident of Montgomery County since 1971 and has been active in civic and county issues since 1984. James is currently on the Maryland ACLU Legislative Committee and has served as the Maryland State NAACP Vice President responsible for political and legislative action, where he provides a strong voice calling for equal rights for all, improved funding for education and after-school programs, expanded health care coverage, improvements in employee pension benefits, and expanded voting rights opportunities for all citizens.

James also serves as President of Progressive Maryland, helping lead the campaigns for living wage laws, increases in the minimum wage, and campaign finance reform. Working with leaders throughout the state, he has formed coalitions that strengthen support for bills important to personal and worker rights, our families and citizens needing government intervention and support. During the past Maryland General Assembly Legislative session, Elbridge worked with the ACLU, Equality Maryland, Maryland Teachers and others to protect our citizen rights against expanded police authority, to expand health care coverage for low-income families, to abolish the death penalty, to increase funding for secondary education, and to repeal laws that limit the voting rights for non-violent ex-offenders.

Elbridge recently retired from the University Of Maryland College Park, where he was a human resources specialist. During his tenure he was the Chairperson of the Faculty-Staff Advisory Board of the Nyumburu Cultural Center, a member of the Human Relations Committee of the College Park Senate, and an active member of the Black Faculty and Staff Association. In partnership with other staff, he worked to expand the inclusion and acceptance of diverse populations at the College Park Campus. He also advised several student campus organizations, and is a mentor to Black students at Watkins Mill High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. Elbridge is an advocate for teaching our youth about their rights and responsibilities, and imploring them to be productive contributors in our community.

Mr. James is honored to be leading the efforts of the Maryland Black Family Alliance.

To contact Mr. James, please email at elbridge@marylandbfa.org.