Merika Coleman

Representative Merika Coleman (born September 6, 1973) was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2002.
Representative Coleman received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communication and her Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Representative Coleman was a 2004 Fleming Fellow with the Center for Policy Alternatives, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to strengthen the capacity of "Citizen Legislators." She was also selected as an American Council of Young Political Leaders delegate to Japan in 2003.
Professionally, Representative Coleman has held several positions with nonprofit organizations as a public policy analyst and strategist where she championed issues such as tax reform, constitutional reform, public transit funding, affordable housing and environmental justice.
She transitioned to become the Director of Community and Economic Development for Lawson State Community College where she also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Government and then became Director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Bessemer where some of her responsibilities included business recruitment and retention, downtown revitalization as well as neighborhood revitalization and land use planning.
Representative Coleman is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Miles College.
Representative Coleman also serves as a Board member of Greater Birmingham Ministries, WiLL, which is the Women Legislators' Lobby and is an organization which equips legislators with information on the impact of federal policy and the federal budget on state programs.
Additionally, she is a founding member of the Midfield Voter's League, an organization which just elected the first African American Mayor of the City of Midfield.
Representative Coleman is the mother of two children, Elexia and Xaviar.