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Biography

"Habari Gani....

President Barack Obama's visit to Tanzania July 1-4, 2013, brought attention to Tanzania's value as a global partner. My goal, as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Tananzia, is to develop and nurture long-term successful collaborations. I invite you, potential associates and compatriots, to work with me to 'Build this Bridge' of opportunity through social and financial investments in the motherland. Now is our time. Karibu."

Charles Gray, Honorary Consul

United Republic of Tanzania


Charles Gray is an internationalist with over 3 decades of local and international business development and relationship-building experience. 

The eldest of five children of Naomi Bagley Gray and the late Charles E. Gray, he was born in Portsmouth, VA. He credits his global perspective to his father’s civil-rights activism* (see photos below) and armed services career that took the family all over the world, and his own enlistment in the U.S. Army where he was stationed in Germany.   

Mr. Gray has an intimate knowledge of Tanzania, East Africa - its political, economic and social environments. During the past 30 plus years, he formed many relationships, including with the founder and former president of Tanzania, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. He has maintained a friendship with the current president, His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete, and many of the country’s ambassadors and ministers. He constantly travels to Tanzania to leverage relationships to manage, expand and market businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals.  

He was a co-chair of the Committee to Advance the South Centre. Among his assignments was to host a reception for Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, Chairman of the South Centre, to present an internationally teleconferenced address.

Mr. Gray travelled to 16 nations in Africa, including the Congo, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa with Real Estate Developer and Jake & Amos Food Founder, David Doolittle, to explore the feasibility of instituting a local canning project in Africa. While there, he met with USAID, industrial packaging companies, African Farmers Women’s Organization, local farmers and various government officials regarding demographically specific project implementation, logistics, guidelines and criteria in various countries. This initiative is presently a project Gray is presenting to Tanzania as part of its agricultural program. 

Locally, he co-founded and administrated the Nyerere Education Institute - grades pre-K-12 and after-school component - in New Brunswick, NJ, for 21 years (1974-1995). Named after his friend and mentor, the late President Julius K. Nyerere, the school was responsible for sending over 3000 students to colleges and universities. He plans to reopen the institution as an on-line school.  

Charles Gray was nominated by the Tanzanian government 6 years ago and approved by the U.S. government this year. The documentation was given to him during a ceremony at the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 2013. In this position, he is seeking to forge cross-continental relationships and partnerships in every area of Tanzanian social and economic development potential – from agriculture, education, housing, transportation and health to entertainment and tourism.  

Current and Past Affiliations include:      

  • Vice President,Superior Printing - Upper Darby, PA.
  • Consultant, The Lomax Companies, Chalfont, PA
  • Chairman, Board of Directors, National Black United Fund (2005-2008)
  • Vice President, Camden County Economic Development Agency (CCEDA)
  • Board of Directors, Boys & Girls Club of Camden, New Jersey
  • President, Operation Push of New Jersey
  • Vice President - Genesis School of Business, Camden, NJ
  • Consultant - Amaker & Porterfield Transportation, Plainfield, NJ
  • Member, Advisory Board, Senior Citizens Council of Middlesex County
  • Member, National Conference of Black Educators
  • President, Board of Directors, Neighborhood House, New Brunswick, NJ
  • Black Home and School Organization, Inc., New Brunswick, NJ
  • Black Child Development Institute of Central Jersey
  • Committee to Save Our Children
  • Deacon, Ebenezer Baptist Church, New Brunswick
  • EOF Advisory Council, Cook College and Douglas College
  • Somerset Community Action Program
  • Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI)
  • Congress of African People
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.)
  • National Black Political Assembly
  • National Educators Legislative Council
  • National Conference of Christians and Jews Housing, Recreation and Communication Association, Inc. Jamesburg, NJ
  • Board of Directors, Title I and Head Start, New Brunswick, NJ
  • Education Task Force, New Jersey Council of Black Churches
  • New Brunswick Title I Council
  • New Jersey Association of Black Educators
  • New Jersey Ethnic Advisory Committee, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
  • New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission
  • New Jersey State Ethnic Advisory Council, Trenton, New Jersey
  • Urban Coalition Education Reform Project, Advisory Committee, New Jersey
  • Director, Educational Resources and Youth Development, Urban League of Greater New Brunswick
  • Executive Director, Middlesex County Office of Economic Opportunity - Jamesburg Center
  • Philadelphia International Trade Commission, Philadelphia, PA
  • Zoning Board of Adjustment, Jamesburg, NJ
  • Senior Juvenile Counselor, New Jersey State Home for Boys
  • the late Clarence Clemons (saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen)
  • Richard Williams Tennis Association
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