BELL Announces New Leadership

BOSTON, MA, Sep 26 (MARKET WIRE) --
BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) today announced the appointment
of current BELL COO, Dr. Tiffany Cooper, as CEO, and the departure of its
Co-founder and CEO of 17 years, Earl Martin Phalen.

Since joining BELL in 1998, Cooper has played a remarkable role in BELL's
growth, program development, and continued success for its scholars.
Backed by a strong senior management team, Cooper currently oversees all
curriculum development, assessment and evaluation activities, service
delivery in all regions, and policy-related initiatives at BELL. She has
been honored for her work by the Massachusetts Conference for Women, and
has received the New Profit Unsung Hero Award, and Boston College's Donald
J. White Teaching Excellence Award.

"I am honored to have been given the opportunity to lead an organization
for whose mission I care so deeply," said Cooper. "With our dedicated
staff and broad network of supporters, we will continue to grow and to
inspire the next generation of great teachers, doctors, artists,
community leaders and parents."

"Tiffany Cooper's dedication and leadership to BELL and its students is
unsurpassed," said Laurene Sperling, Chair of the BELL Board of Directors.
"BELL is stronger today than at anytime in its history, both
organizationally and financially. We thank Earl for the tremendous role he
played in building BELL into the transformative, nationally recognized
organization it is today, and for his unwavering devotion to a vision that
has made a difference in the lives of thousands of students."

Phalen stepped down from his position as CEO, but will continue as BELL's
founder in an advisory role to the senior management team.

"It has been 17 years, and although my role is changing, I can tell you
that my commitment to public service and to helping the 13 million
American children living in poverty has not," said Phalen. "I am deeply
proud of what we have built together and the children whose lives have
been changed forever with the help of BELL and those who have invested
their time, talent and financial support to our mission. No one is more
prepared than Tiffany to lead BELL to even greater success."

About BELL

Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1992 by a group of Black and Latino
Harvard Law School students, BELL is one of the nation's leading providers
of quality after-school and summer educational programs serving more than
12,000 children nationally. BELL is dedicated to helping children living
in under resourced, urban communities develop their tremendous potential
and achieve success in the classroom. BELL's robust mentoring and tutoring
programs improve children's core academic skills, strengthen their
self-esteem, and elevate their expectations. BELL currently serves the
students in Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, New York City, and Springfield,
Mass. For more information, please visit www.bellnational.org.

Contact:

Collin Earnst
Email Contact
617-933-9011

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