Robert M. Coard has served as President/CEO of ABCD since 1968. From 1965 to 1968, he was ABCD Deputy Director for Planning and created the agency's decentralized APAC/NSC system. Earlier, he held managerial positions at the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the Urban League. He also spent several years in the private sector.

In the late 1960s, Coard was appointed to the 15-member Citywide Coordinating Council that advised on school desegregation during the school busing crisis. He has since served on many local and national task forces and committees that impact social policy decisions affecting poor and working people. He frequently testifies before Congress or the State Legislature on issues affecting the poor and is often interviewed by the press for his views on social concerns and ABCD programs.

During his tenure at ABCD Coard built many significant institutions, including the National Community Action Foundation to provide national-level leadership and impact legislation affecting the nation's poor. He also created CAPLAW, a national program to provide legal support to the 1,000-plus community action programs and their low-income constituents. In addition, Coard is the Founding President and current Vice Chair of the Urban College of Boston, a fully accredited two-year college that provides higher education opportunities to low-income Boston-area residents.

Coard holds degrees from Dillard University and Boston University and completed coursework at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Ph.D. program in city and regional planning. He also attended Harvard University's Littauer School of Public Administration and has received honorary degrees from Simmons College and Lesley University.