Gene Bell Receives Building Bridges Dr. Charles Blair Award

Gene Bell serves as the Chair of the Board of Asheville City Schools.  Photo: The Urban News

Staff Reports

Building Bridges of Asheville is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2010 Dr. Charles Blair Building Bridges Award. Mr. Gene Bell has been awarded this honor for his significant and ongoing contributions to the mission of Building Bridges of Asheville.

Building Bridges of Asheville seeks to enable the Asheville community to confront and overcome racism through a continuing process of changing attitudes and hearts through compelling dialogue, community-building, and opportunities for social action. Building Bridges was established in 1993 and offers nine-week sessions twice each year.

Gene Bell currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Asheville City
Schools. In October, 2005, Bell was named as the Executive Director of
Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, along with the Brevard
Housing Authority. After a 20-year management career with IBM, Bell
owned a construction company in Charlotte that served the Charlotte
Housing Authority. Years later, he joined the Charlotte Housing
Authority as the Director of Technical Services. He earned a degree in
Business Management from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Dr. Charles Blair Building Bridges Award was established in 2009 to
recognize individuals in the community who reflect the spirit and
dedication of Dr. Charles Blair to overcome racism and racial disparity.
A founder of Building Bridges of Asheville, Dr. Blair’s profound impact
on the Asheville community was also achieved through his work as a
trusted physician to underserved patients and as the founder of the
Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement, an organization
aimed at addressing economic, social, and health disparities for
minorities.