Brian Coleman

Mr. Brian Coleman was the 2019 National School Counselor of the Year and the first African-American winner of this prestigious honor. He was also a 2019 Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Upstander Award recipient for his commitment to LGBTQA+ youth advocacy. Coleman has spent the last year traveling the country as the cartwheeling "Unicorn Counselor" speaking on issues ranging from comprehensive sexual health education and counseling program design to counselor identity and engagement strategies within the school community. He is in his eighth year with Jones College Prep where he has served as Counseling Department Chair for four years. At Jones, Mr. Coleman has primarily overseen counseling programming for seniors, JCP’s student mentorship program "Eagle Mentors", and the school’s LGBTQA+ student organization JonesPride. In recent years, he has also participated in DePaul University’s “Here We Do” and McDonald’s “Black and Positively Golden” promotional campaigns. He has also contributed to pieces for CNBC, Forbes, Teen Vogue, and NPR among others. Coleman is a proud graduate of Northwestern University as well as DePaul University where he was named the College of Education’s 2019 Alumni of the Year (and, recently, became an Adjunct Instructor!) He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois School Counselor Association and the Educational Advisory Board for Responsibility.org. He enjoys all things unicorn, most things theatrical, and a good amount of professional wrestling!