Bridgeton’s Albert Kelly Honored at National Community Action Partnership Convention
Albert Kelly at National Community Action Partnership convention in Seattle on Aug. 29, 2024. Photo courtesy of Albert Kelly.
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
BRIDGETON — Gateway Community Action Partnership founder and President Albert Kelly was honored last month by the National Community Action Partnership with the Lyndon Baines Johnson Leadership Award at its annual convention in Seattle.
The LBJ award is one of the top awards given by the National CAP given at its national convention, named at the U.S. president who inspired then organization through his “War on Poverty” back in the 1960s, and Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr. focus on economic justice.
The national award cited Kelly’s 36 years of leadership with Gateway Community Action Partnership in Bridgeton. It also recognized Kelly, who also serves as mayor of Bridgeton, for his steady leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, economic development skills and various positive community program started under Gateway CAP.
“Albert B. Kelly’s dedication to making communities better places to live has been manifested in numerous ways in his 36 years as president and CEO and founder of Gateway Community Action Partnership of Southern New Jersey,” his citation read at the national convention.
The National Community Action Partnership is a nationwide nonprofit membership organization that provides technical assistance, training, and other resources to community action agencies, nonprofit and public groups.
It is funded by the Community Services Block Grant, a federal program that allocates funding to states to connect Americans to greater opportunity. The nation’s Community Action Agencies embody our nation’s spirit of hope, change people’s lives, and improve communities.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 created the Community Action Network of national and locally-focused organizations that connect millions of children and families to greater opportunity.
Bridgeton’s Gateway Community Action Partnership, Inc. was founded by Kelly in 1984 and has grown to become one of the largest in New Jersey with an annual budget of more than $60 million.
The agency serves more than 56,000 low to moderate income people through more than 40 programs at sites in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Salem counties in New Jersey and Germantown in Pennsylvania and employs over 800 people.
Kelly has volunteered and has been appointed to various community boards including elected Bridgeton’s mayor on July 1, 2010, while winning 76% of the vote. He has also serves as president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities representing the 565 mayors of New Jersey.
A Bridgeton native, Kelly is a graduate of Trenton State College (College of New Jersey) and has worked in the state and municipal court system. He has received recognition, honors, and awards at the local, state and national levels for his outstanding dedication to human and community services. Kelly also serves as a Chaplain for both Inspira Hospital and the Local Police Department.
In a 2019 interview with Front Runner New Jersey, Kelly lauded the community he grew up in and his determination to make it a better place of all of it citizens.
“I want my community to be proud of me because I represent the entire community,” Kelly said then to FRNJ. “I’m African-American male and the first African-American male to be elected the mayor of this city. I wanted to be there for the positive things and for the entire community.
“Many people I believe thought I was just going to be the mayor of the African-Americans here in the city and ignore the other issues throughout this community, but that’s not true, and I know they know I represent the entire city. I was elected to represent the entire city no matter if you live on the west side, east side, north side or south side. So it’s important to me to do my best and to be my best.”
Kelly has given his serves to many boards and foundations to help the local community. Some of those organizations board include the Greater Bridgeton Area Chamber of Commerce, Cumberland County Improvement Authority, Minor Adjustments Re-Entry Program, Allegheny East Conference of Seventh Day Adventist Churches, Cumberland County Empowerment Zone, Cumberland Development Corporation, PNC Bank Advisory Board, Walter Rand Institute Advisory Board, Code Blue and Homeless Shelter Team, New Jersey League of Municipalities, New Jersey Urban Mayors Association Board, Inspira Health Network Board of Directors, and the Bridgeton Christian Ministerium.
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