Back talk with Bruce S. Gordon.

When Bruce S. Gordon was named president and CEO of the NAACP in June, he became the organization's first president in 30 years who was neither a politician nor a clergy member.

Gordon was chosen to lead the organization, namely for his 35-year experience as one of the highest-ranking executives at Verizon. During his last year with the company he managed Verizon's largest business unit, which employed 34,000 people served 33 million telephone and Internet customers and recorded more than $25 billion in sales.

Gordon's history with the NAACP dates back to his childhood in Camden, New Jersey. His father helped found the Camden chapter of the NAACP, and Gordon attended regular meetings as a boy. Heading the NAACP is a homecoming of sorts for this former BLACK ENTERPRISE "Executive of the Year."

We caught up with Gordon to see how he plans to revamp the organization that has been plagued with financial shortfalls, stagnant membership, and a strained relationship with the Bush administration.

Can your corporate experience help the NAACP? It should help in a number of ways. For one, I've managed large operations. I've learned how to build budgets and balance budgets. I learned how to win customers. if I can win customers in the telecommunications industry, I like to think that I can find ways to attract new members to the NAACP. I learned a lot about marketing and brand management. The NAACP brand is a highly recognized brand. Given my desire to put a lot more focus on economic equality, my relationship to the business community will be of value to me as we begin to identify programs and initiatives under the umbrella of economic equality.

What strategies do you have for leveraging black buying power? Most recently there's been a lot of concern in New Orleans about the way African Americans are treated in the French Quarter. The bottom line is that the establishments and folks there don't treat them very nicely. The local branch of the NAACP had a march, a demonstration, protesting that kind of behavior. I certainly applaud the local branch for its activism. However, I would say in addition to that, we should take our dollars elsewhere. We spend money in that economy, in that community, and most of those establishments in the Quarter are not owned by African Americans. We should spend where we are respected. That, to me, is a more significant message than a protest because it has an economic impact on the offenders.

What's your take on President Bush not addressing the NAACP during an election year? I'm certainly disappointed that there is not a constructive relationship between the NAACP and the White House. I don't think the NAACP and President Bush and the current administration have to agree on everything, but I have to believe that there are some things upon which we can agree. And in those cases where we disagree, we should at least give one another the opportunity to express points of view. We're both better off knowing how the other thinks even if we don't think the same way.

What concerns you most about the NAACP? The NAACP is a very strong organization, but it does have some areas that need to be addressed. We don't have the kind of endowment that an organization of our size and stature and importance should have. We've found it difficult in the last couple of years to balance our budget. We don't have a membership base that is as large as I think it should be.

What kind of legacy would you like to leave behind? I would like the NAACP to have far more members than it had on the day I walked into the office. I would like it to be far more financially stable than it was when I walked into the job. I want to see significantly more 20- to 35-year-olds who are involved in the NAACP, not just as members but as leaders. And I would like to think that I will build a succession plan so that when I walk out of the door, the next leader of the NAACP is readily recognized as having an affiliation with the NAACP, and is prepared to pick up where I leave off.