Commission Chair (Dist. 7)
Alisha Bell is Chair of the Wayne County Commission. She was first elected to the Commission in November 2002 as the youngest African-American woman to serve on a county commission in the country and is serving her 12th term.
Chair Bell previously served as a precinct delegate and held board roles with the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Michigan and the Michigan Environmental Council. She was also a past member of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority.
During her earlier leadership years, she served as chair of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence and the Detroit Recovery Project, volunteered with Junior Achievement, and founded and led as charter president of the Metro Detroit Optimist Club, a young adult chapter of Optimist Club International.
She remains actively engaged today, currently serving as Chair of the Wayne County Zoological Authority and Wayne County HealthChoice, and is an active member of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Jack and Jill of America, Inc.
On a national level, Chair Bell is very active with the National Association of Counties (NACo) where she was recently elected 2nd Vice President of the organization. She will become President in 2027, and only the third African American women to be elected to that position in the 90-year history of the organization. She has previously served on the NACo Board of Directors, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, President of the National Association of Black County Officials, President of the Women of NACo and founding member and former executive board member of NextGen NACo.
Commissioner Bell initiated a resolution denouncing the practice of racial profiling in Wayne County. She also introduced several school officials to the Wayne County Reality Tour Program, which helps deter youth from criminal behavior. She has secured more than $1 million for parks in her district and introduced an ordinance enabling the Wayne County Public Health Department to establish a youth lead testing and screening program.
In recent years, Chair Bell has been extremely involved in criminal justice reform. She initiated the Stepping Up resolution which diverts people with mental illness and substance abuse from jails and into treatment. In 2019, she introduced a Cash Bail Bond reform resolution which addresses the inequity of poor persons who go to jail because they can't afford bail. In 2020, Chair Bell led efforts to keep commission meetings available during to the public via Zoom, as well as to provide financial assistance to county business struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also championed a commission resolution decrying racism as a public health issue as well as one calling on the state and federal governments to assure equal treatment of all communities during the pandemic.
Commissioner Bell grew up in the Wayne County Commission's 7th District, which covers part of Detroit's far west side. She is a graduate of Cass Technical High School and received her bachelor's degree in business administration from Florida A&M University. She also earned a master's degree in education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She and her husband, Kranston Young, have a son, Kranston II, and a daughter, Morgan. She is the daughter of James and Edna Bell and has a younger sister, Sonja Johnson.
Staff
Michelle Joyner
(313) 224-0936
Beverly King
(313) 224-0937
Map
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