Nettie L. Coad

January 30, 1936 - April 10, 2012

Motivator, Educator, Leader

“What made Nettie an incredible woman was how she demonstrated through her life’s work, explained to us through her trainings, and mentored us through her love that there is no separation between the “personal” and “professional” or between the “private” and “public” actions and values we hold.” - Geni Eng, DrPH, Professor at UNC Chapel Hill's Department of Health Behavior

1962 - Founding member of St. Paul Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC
​1988 - Co-Chair, Guilford County Democratic Party
1988 - Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
1990 - Led the fight to prevent the widening of MLK Drive in Greensboro, NC
1995 - Member of the first group of women to be honored with the Belle Ringer Image Role Model Award - Bennett College
1997 - Founding member of The Partnership Project
1997 - Recipient, Levi Coffin Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Human Relations & Human Rights - Greensboro Chamber of Commerce

“She (was) an amazing woman, very concerned about people, sincere, and compassionate… she (lived) to make the world a better place of all of us.” - Sandra Hughes, Retired Broadcast Journalist

2000 - Co-Recipient, with Suzanne Plihcik, of the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award - Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
2003 - Founding member of the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative
2005 - Speaker, Greensboro Truth & Reconciliation Commission
2006 - Secretary and Chair of the Governance Committee - Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
2008 - Co-author, "Undoing Racism Training as a Foundation for Team Building in CBPR - Community-Based Participatory Research for Health
2008 - Co-presenter, "Critical Incident Technique Interview: An innovative CBPR method for amplifying the voices of women on the breast cancer care" - American Public Health Association
2008 - Co-presenter, "The Art and Science of Integrating the Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research and Undoing Racism Training" - Minority Health Conference
2008 - Co-author, "Cancer Care and Racial Equity Study (CCARES): An Innovative Community and Academic Model for Investigating Disparities in Systems of Breast Cancer Care" - American Public Health Association
2008 - Co-presenter, "The Cancer Care and Racial Equity Study (CCARES): An Innovative Community and Academic Model for Investigating Disparities in Systems of Breast Cancer Care" - National Health Disparities Summit
2009 - Candidate, Greensboro City Council, District 2
2009 - Co-presenter, "Health Equity Training" - Moses Cone Health System Medical Residents Annual Retreat
2009-11 - National Vice-President, James B. Dudley High School Alumni Association, Inc.

"Nettie Coad...was the definition of a neighborhood activist. She worked hard for Greensboro and worked harder for her neighborhood, the Ole Asheboro Street Neighborhood, which is along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. There is no telling what might have happened to that area if Nettie Coad had not always been its advocate. As Nettie Coad knew, sometimes politicians need a little push to do the right thing and she didn’t have any trouble providing a little impetus in the right places. She was a delightful person and always kind, even to those who often disagreed with her." - The Rhino Times of Greensboro

2010 - Co-author, "Views on personalized medicine: do the attitudes of African American and white prescription drug consumers differ?" - Public Health Genomics
2010 - Community Expert, "Community Leadership and Reciprocal Development to Advance Community-Engaged Research" - UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP)
2010 - Founding member of Sisters Network Greensboro
2010 - Co-presenter, "Undoing Racism: Moving Toward Health Equity" - Hill House Association
2010 - Recipient, Lifetime Achievement Award - United Way of Greater Greensboro
2010 - Co-presenter, "Asserting the right to health: CBPR as a vehicle to promote racial health and health equity care" - American Public Health Association
2010 - Co-presenter, "Community Competence and Systems Change: Partners or Odd Couple for Eliminating Health Inequities" - NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Lecture Series
2010 - Presenter, "Building Whole & Healthy Communities" - North Carolina Chapter Society for Public Health Education
2010 - Co-presenter, "A community-academic-medical partnership's view of racial justice forms at the crossroads of institutions' view of diversity and community engagement" - American Public Health Association
2011 - Co-presenter, "Community leadership to build capacity for CBPR: An innovative model for advancing equity in research partnerships" - American Public Health Association
2011 - Co-presenter, "Enhancing the Field of Public Health through Health Equity Training" - North Carolina Chapter Society for Public Health Education
2012 - Co-presenter, "CBPR Charrettes: A problem-solving approach for community academic partnerships - Annual Minority Health Conference
2012 - Co-author, "Infrastructure for Equitable Decision Making in Research" - Methods for Community-Based Participatory Research for Health 
2012 - Co-author, "Community expertise in CBPR: Beyond incentives to compensation" - American Public Health Association
2012 - Received posthumously, Public Service Award - Department of Health & Human Services, UNC Greensboro

“She was a gentle champion for the community, with a warm smile and friendly eyes and a dogged conviction that
things would be better. Or else. She refused to settle for less.” - Greensboro News & Record

Eight term president of the Ole Asheboro Street Neighborhood Association
National Finalist, with Suzanne Plichik - Institute for Sustainable Community, Leadership for a Changing World
Sojourner Truth Award - National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women's Clubs, Inc.
Outstanding Service Award - Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation
Annual Heritage Award - Reid Memorial CME Church
The People's Institute Community Organizing Award
Chairwoman of the Guilford County Senior Democrats
Chairwoman of the Greensboro Redevelopment Commission
Board member of The Affordable Housing Group of North Carolina
Board member of the Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation
Board member of Moses Cone Health System
Board member of Preservation Greensboro
Member of The John R. Kernodle, Jr. Memorial Scholarship selection committee
Member of the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress
Member of Project Greensboro
Outstanding Dedication Award - Guilford County Democratic Party
Community Service Award - City of Greensboro
Women of Distinction Award - African American Atelier
Community Service Award - NAACP
Sertoma Service to Mankind Award
Resolution by the Greensboro City Council naming the Nettie Coad Apartments in her honor

“I have seen both good transformation and destruction in my neighborhood. I think we must understand what is dividing us and the underlining causes of neighborhood destruction before we can redirect and rebuild. My passion for preserving Ole Asheboro comes from a drive to have those in power understand these dynamics and apply equity in decisions making. I feel rich, and to me, rich is to be understood and feel safe in a city where everyone is cared for and respected. I care so much about Ole Asheboro because it is a historical neighborhood that should be preserved and because I care about all of our city.” - the late Nettie Coad

Nettie Coad speaks during her 2009 bid
​for Greensboro City Council