Ryan Coleman, a towering figure and outspoken leader of the Randallstown NAACP during his six years at its helm, resigned Wednesday amid friction with the state conference.

Tekemia Dorsey, who’s served as the chapter’s first vice president, stepped in as president, effective immediately, according to staff at the organization, who confirmed Coleman’s resignation.

Coleman, 46, said he’d already made up his mind to leave in hopes of pursuing other opportunities, including possibly running for the Baltimore County Council. The deciding factor, though, was a mandatory March 21 meeting that the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP called after officers there accused Coleman of addressing issues beyond the purview of the Randallstown branch.

In a letter sent a few days before the meeting, the state leadership noted that Coleman had “acted on behalf” of the state branch when interacting with the Maryland State Police Department’s leadership team and the Coalition of Black Maryland State Troopers.

“As a reminder, you and the Randallstown Branch do not speak for the NAACP Maryland State Conference, the Baltimore County or the Baltimore City Branches,” the state leadership team wrote in a letter dated March 18. “Overstepping these boundaries is a direct violation of NAACP National Bylaws.”

The letter also accused Coleman and the Randallstown branch of not submitting reports of their activities and not paying required state dues, both of which put their charter at risk.

Those signing the letter include NAACP Maryland State Conference Acting President Faith Blackburne-Proctor; 2nd Vice President Danita Tolson, and 3rd Vice President Tifani Fisher.

Coleman said the state organization’s complaints on records were “petty.” He said leaders from the state police and Black troopers had requested that he mediate some longstanding issues, which he’d done before.

“I never purported myself as being part of the state chapter. I’m the president of the Randallstown NAACP, and that is all I ever purported to be,” Coleman said.

The Randallstown NAACP’s website put a “pardon our dust” message on the president’s page asking for patience while the organization restores features.

The Randallstown branch of the NAACP began in 1990. After some years of inactivity, local activists reinvigorated the branch in 2012. For 50 years, Baltimore County has maintained its own branch of the NAACP in Towson; Turners Station had a small branch in East Baltimore when that community was large. Members of Randallstown’s Black community felt they needed an organization to focus on their issues, Coleman told The Banner in an interview last month.

Among those issues: renovating Security Square Mall, bringing the Grocery Outlet to Liberty Road, celebrating a new rec center in the area, and working with the Baltimore County Police Department to break down barriers and help with recruitment. More recently, Coleman said last month, he was forging ahead with a program to improve relations between Black and Jewish residents and patrol the shared community after some Orthodox Jews were attacked walking to Shabbat services.

Coleman listed some of these accomplishments in a letter that he sent to community members. He told The Banner this week that he’s most proud of the branch’s outreach to everyone in the community, from Orthodox rabbis to the League of Women Voters to the teachers unions. At his re-installation last year, hundreds of well-wishers packed a room at the Pikesville library, among them county councilmen, police officers, high school students, and county department heads.

“Our focus is Black people, but it’s everyone,” Coleman said. “Trying to give a voice to people that needed a voice.”

Coleman’s voice is formidable. His tall frame commands a room, befitting his day job as an educator. He’s energetic, collaborative and animated — the kind of person, he acknowledges, who puts his whole self into his endeavors and doesn’t have a middle gear. He says he looks forward to spending more time with his wife and daughter, a student at Howard University.

The NAACP State Conference has had its own issues. Last September, the national NAACP suspended the state president, the Rev. Kobi Little, over accusations of bullying from more than 150 members from various chapters in Maryland. The letter accused Little and Joshua Harris, the treasurer for the state conference, of improperly spending money and not justifying the expenditures. Little and Harris denied any wrongdoing.