MOBILE, Ala. – Oxford native Colby J. Cooper, who served as a principal advisor to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for over a decade, will become the first executive director of the newly formed Coastal Alabama Leadership Council (CALC).

“This is a perfect fit,” said CALC chairman Ricky Mathews, who is also publisher of the Mobile Press-Register. “Colby was ready for a new stage in his career at the exact moment our organization was ready to take the next step.”

Before joining Secretary Rice at the Department of State, Cooper, 35, served as the Director for Communications and Media Relations on the National Security Council at the White House, where he was responsible for long-range foreign policy communications planning and initiative roll-outs. He traveled internationally with Secretary Rice and President George W. Bush and helped plan and manage key meetings and conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

Cooper is a 1999 graduate of Bucknell University, where he lettered in varsity football. He and his family live in Fairhope, Ala.