Jealous

WASHINGTON — Months before Benjamin Jealous took the helm of the NAACP, his predecessor quit following clashes with the board and the organization cut a third of its national staff amid declining revenues.

As Jealous prepares to step down five years later, he’s credited with boosting the organization’s fundraising and helping to stabilize it. Jealous plans to further discuss his decision to step down as president and CEO of the nation’s largest civil rights organization today, a day after it was first announced. His departure is effective Dec. 31.

In a written statement, the 40-year-old Jealous said he plans to teach at a university and wants to spend time with his family.

The news was met with a mixture of sadness and appreciation from other civil rights leaders who admired how he helped the organization. Jealous was the group’s youngest-ever leader when he was hired as its president at age 35 in 2008.

The Baltimore-based organization said its rosters of online activists and donors have grown tremendously during his tenure.

In the year before Jealous arrived, the NAACP cut its national staff by a third because of what a spokesman described at the time as several years of falling fundraising revenues. Also that year, former NAACP President Bruce Gordon abruptly resigned after clashes with the group’s 64-member board.

The group said its donors have increased from 16,000 people giving each year to more than 132,000 under the leadership of Jealous.

During Jealous’ tenure, the NAACP also has embraced gay rights in a historic vote to endorse same-sex marriage in May 2012. “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” the group said, citing the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Jealous said recently that a broader coalition is needed to fight the civil rights battles of the 21st century. He also said he plans to start a political action committee to raise money to elect diverse progressive candidates.