Gateway CAP Announces Retirement of Founder Albert Kelly
Photo courtesy of City of Bridgeton
Bridgeton’s Mayor Since 2010, Kelly Will Not Seek Re-Election Ending an Era
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
BRIDGETON – Last month, Gateway Community Action Partnership quietly announced the planned retirement of Albert B. Kelly, as its president and Chief Executive Officer, effective Nov. 1, marking more than four decades of leadership and service to the community.
Gateway CAP said to ensure a smooth and strategic transition, the board of directors approved a temporary division of leadership responsibilities, that took place March 27, making Edward Bethea interim president and Chief Operating Officer.
Kelly will continue in his role as chief executive officer through his retirement. Upon his retirement, he will transition to the honorary title of President and CEO Emeritus. A Gateway CAP statement said the board of directors will assemble a search and transition committee in April to begin identifying a permanent successor.
“Mr. Kelly’s visionary leadership has helped grow Gateway CAP into a multi-county organization serving thousands of individuals and families each year,” said a Gateway CAP statement on social media.
“His impact on our communities is lasting and deeply appreciated. Gateway CAP remains strong, mission-focused, and committed to building brighter futures as we enter this next chapter.”
Kelly has served as Bridgeton’s mayor for more than a decade. He is the city’s first and only African American mayor. Kelly will not seek re-election for mayor as well, a source told Front Runner New Jersey.com.
Kelly arrived at Gateway Community Action Partnership long before anyone realized how profoundly he would reshape it. Back then, the organization was smaller, quieter, and still finding its footing in the complex world of community service.
What it needed was a leader with equal parts vision and grit—someone who understood that helping people wasn’t just a mission statement but a daily, lived commitment.
Kelly became that leader.
For decades, he walked through the doors of Gateway CAP with the same steady purpose: to make life better for the families who depended on the organization’s programs. Under his leadership, Gateway grew from a modest local agency into one of New Jersey’s largest and most influential community action organizations. Head Start centers expanded, food assistance programs multiplied, housing initiatives took root, and entire neighborhoods felt the ripple effects of his work.
But the story of Kelly’s retirement isn’t just about the programs he built—it’s about the people he lifted.
He was known for remembering names, for asking about a staff member’s child by name, for stopping in hallways to listen, really listen, to concerns or ideas. He believed that dignity was not something you earned but something you were owed, and he infused that belief into every corner of the organization.
As the announcement of his retirement spread, the reaction was immediate and heartfelt. Staff members shared stories of the first time he encouraged them, challenged them, or trusted them with something big.
Community partners reflected on his ability to bring people together who otherwise might never have sat at the same table. Families who had benefited from Gateway’s services spoke of him with a kind of quiet gratitude reserved for people who change the trajectory of a life without ever asking for recognition.
On his final day, the building felt different. Not somber—more like reflective. People gathered in the lobby, in offices, in classrooms, each carrying their own memory of the man who had guided Gateway CAP through decades of growth and change.
Kelly’s retirement marks the end of an era, but not the end of his impact. Gateway CAP will continue to grow, evolve, and serve—because he spent a lifetime building an organization strong enough to thrive long after he stepped aside.
After serving as Bridgeton Council president on Bridgeton City Council in 2009, Kelly was elected to his first term in May of 2010 with 76% of the vote and assumed office on July 1 of that year as Bridgeton’s first African American mayor.
After an active and highly productive four years, Mayor Kelly hoped to continue as Bridgeton’s mayor and ultimately ran unopposed winning a second term four-year term in November 2014. Kelly’s political leadership was respected throughout New Jersey, where he served a term as president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association.
Note from AC JosepH Media: If you like this story and others posted on Front Runner New Jersey.com, lend us a hand so we can keep producing articles like these for New Jersey and the world to see. Click on SUPPORT FRNJ and make a contribution that will go directly in making more stories like this available. You can reach Editor Clyde Hughes at chughes@acjosephmedia.com. Thank you for reading!
About Author
