James COleman

Senate President James R. Coleman was born and raised in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver and is a resident of the district he so proudly represents: Senate District 33. Coleman served his first term in 2016, serving as the youngest elected official in Colorado’s state legislature at that time. After serving 2 terms as the State Representative of House District 7, he went on to win his election to the Senate District 33 seat in November 2020. Senator Coleman currently serves as the Colorado Senate President, Chair of Black Coloradans Racial Equity Study Commission, Vice-Chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Colorado Jail Standards, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council.

Throughout his years in the Colorado General Assembly, Senator Coleman has energetically sponsored bills to better fund and resource schools, protect workers' and veterans' rights, bolster small businesses, create opportunities for and pathways to higher education, increase health coverage and mental/behavioral health supports, direct criminal justice reforms, and preserve our environment. His groundbreaking legislation is anchored not only in advocacy for the Black community, but also in his three legislative priorities: Education; Economic Growth; Youth and Workforce Development.

Education

Senator Coleman understands the importance of our schools, especially as a means to finding positive ways to engage youth and guiding them towards postsecondary options. His bills strive to improve public education for every student in Colorado - by increasing access to early childhood education, fostering education to career pathways, providing professional development opportunities to educators, addressing educator staffing shortages, and strengthening concurrent enrollment opportunities. 

Our students deserve access to resources and experiences that allow them to determine their next steps in life, whether it be joining Colorado's workforce or pursuing higher education. Coleman's bills reflect exactly that: helping to increase financial aid application completion rates, removing barriers to supplemental instruction in higher education, and creating innovative, outside of classroom learning opportunities. His legislation even protects the rights of student athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness - a right society has waited all too long to codify. 

Economic Growth

Senator Coleman champions bills for employees, consumers, as well as minority, new, and small business owners. One of his earliest bills sought to encourage employee ownership of existing small businesses - a bill which ultimately led to the Governor's creation of the Employee Ownership Commission. This ongoing program advances the employee-owned model in Colorado to help increase business success and employee motivation throughout the state. 

Later, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated disparities and inequity across the board. Many businesses, including 40% of Denver's underrepresented Black owned businesses, were forced to shut their doors. He passed a bill creating the Colorado Startup Loan Program, in order to get loans and wraparound services in the hands of businesses seeking to start or restructure. 

Youth and Workforce Development

Coleman sponsored legislation to help grow our workforce by investing dollars in businesses providing apprenticeship career opportunities in both corporate and labor professions. Additionally, this bill provided credential portability, technology, and job applications in a variety of languages. 

Moreover, Coleman passed legislation to increase recognition and the value of non-degree credentials, and created a more equitable pipeline for workforce development. Coleman believes that a college degree and work experience are not mutually exclusive, and that both are vital to the success of an individual and our state economy. 

Coleman has served on the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Board, and acquires funding for the Department of Human Services to invest in community based organizations for prevention and intervention programs for children, youth, and their families. These dollars are being used to combat youth crime and violence.

Work and Family

Coleman is the founder of FaithBridge Colorado, a local nonprofit quarterbacking education policy and advocacy efforts to improve K-12 education across the state of Colorado. He also founded Chance Sports, a scholarship organization providing assistance to Colorado youth from low-income families in order to access competitive sports programs and learn leadership and team-building skills that will benefit them both on and off the athletic field. Coleman is also the founder of Black Capital Foundation, created to provide technical support services for Black owned businesses. 

Coleman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a minor in Business Administration, from Oral Roberts University. Coleman met his wife, Shayna Coleman, in the 8th grade and they are the proud parents of twins, James Jr. and Naomi.