WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oakland County, Mich. Commissioner Eric Coleman aims to raise awareness about issues facing children and young adults as the newly elected president of the National Association of Counties (NACo).

Coleman, who was first elected as a NACo officer in 2004, began his one-year term as NACo president on July 17 at NACo’s 72nd Annual Conference and Exposition held July 13-17 in Richmond, Va.

“It is indeed an honor and privilege to serve as president of the National Association of Counties,” Coleman said. “Counties large and small, urban and rural serve the people of America in countless ways and NACo is the single, powerful voice of America’s counties. To be afforded the opportunity to lead this remarkable association for the next 12 months is a responsibility I never dreamed possible when I first decided to run for Oakland County commissioner more than a decade ago.”

As is NACo tradition, Coleman has announced his “presidential initiatives” for 2007-08:

• Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE). A new effort by NACo in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to fight child sexual exploitation. CASE seeks to engage communities through a diverse alliance of stakeholders, led by local elected officials, to show people across the U.S. how they can protect children from becoming victims of sexual exploitation.

• Aging Out of Foster Care. More than 500,000 children are in foster care, removed from their families, as a result of suspected abuse or neglect. Each year, about 20,000 of these children transition to adulthood and “age out” of the foster care system, and often become homeless, jobless, drug addicted, incarcerated, ill and/or diseased. The initiative will raise awareness among county officials nationwide about the plight of adults aging out of foster care; identify promising county practices that support these individuals as they transition to independent adulthood and share this information with all levels of government; and enlist county officials in a call to action to take a leadership.

Coleman was first elected to represent Oakland County’s 23rd District in 1996. A member of NACo’s Board of Directors since 2002, Coleman chairs NACo’s Finance Committee and is Executive Committee Liaison to the Large Urban County Caucus, the Geographic Information System Committee, the Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee and the Sustainability Leadership Team.

In Oakland County, Coleman currently serves as vice chair of the Personnel Committee and is past vice chair of the Planning & Building Committee and the Finance Committee. The former Oakland County Parks Commissioner also served as president, secretary and treasurer of the Southfield School Board.

Since 1998, Coleman has served as an executive committee delegate to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, where he chairs the Finance and Budget Committee. In addition, he co-chairs the Tri-County Economic Development Task Force.

In 2006, Coleman was awarded the Oakland County Political Leader of the Year Modesty Award by the Crystal Home Healthcare organization. He has received numerous civic awards, including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award and the State of Michigan Service to the Community Award.

Actively involved in community affairs, Coleman has chaired or been a member of several organizations in Oakland County including the City of Southfield’s Parent-Youth Guidance Commission, Southfield-Lathrup Village Optimist Club International, Southfield Youth in Government Club, South Oakland County NAACP, Southfield Schools Educational Foundation, Southfield Community Foundation, Citizens Advisory Council for Fiscal Responsibility and Policy, and the Southfield-Lathrup Village Multi-Cultural Commission.

Coleman is a business executive and former educator. He has taught at the elementary, high school and community college level. A husband, father and grandfather, Coleman has resided in Southfield for more than 30 years.

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The National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,066 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money. For more information about NACo, visit www.naco.org