Leonard S. Coleman, Jr. is Chairman Emeritus of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Mr. Coleman signed-on with Major League Baseball in 1992 as Executive Director-Market Development. Previously, Mr. Coleman was a municipal finance banker for Kidder, Peabody & Company. Prior to joining Kidder, he served as commissioner of both the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and Department of Energy, and chairman of the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. Mr. Coleman was the vice chairman of the State Commission on Ethical Standards and a member of the Economic Development Authority, Urban Enterprise Zone Authority, Urban Development Authority, State Planning Commission and New Jersey Public Television Commission. Mr. Coleman also has served as president of the Greater Newark Urban Coalition.
From 1976 to 1980, Mr. Coleman worked in Africa in mission service for the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, providing management consultant services in health care, education and church and community development in 17 African countries. After graduating with a degree in history from Princeton University, Mr. Coleman received a master’s in public administration and a master’s in education and social policy from Harvard University.
In addition to serving as honorary chairman of the board of the Jackie Robinson Foundation (which he chaired for nearly 20 years), Mr. Coleman serves on the Board of Directors of the Omnicom Group. He also serves as a director of several other organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Coleman is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief and the United States chairman of the Bishop Tutu Scholarship Fund.