The theme of this year’s black history month is African Americans and Labor.
President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Over the years, the focus of the Black History Month articles in The Rockdale Reporter has been to highlight the accomplishments and stellar contributions of African Americans from this small Central Texas town. With the dismantling of DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility), it would be quite easy to attribute the outstanding achievements of Black Americans to having a “leg up” through diversity programs; however, people often fail to recognize the achievements and hard work it takes to excel.
The legacy of strength and perseverance is evident in the life of one Rockdale graduate, Omar Bell.
Omar was a 1994 graduate of Rockdale High School. He was his class president and also received the Presidential Achievement Scholarship from Texas A&M University. Omar graduated from Texas A&M in 1999 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. During his final year of school, he interned with Accenture and obtained employment there after graduation.
Now, 25 years later, Omar is still with Accenture as a managing director in the Technology Delivery Practice. This means Omar makes sure that he and his teams deliver on any technology commitments Accenture contracted for their clients.
For example, Omar describes one project where they were called upon to deliver a comprehensive commerce cloud solution for an oil and gas client. The team implemented a Sales Force solution that allowed all of the clients’ distributors access and ability to manage inventory and sale, ultimately improving both customer service and customer experience.
As a managing director, Omar is often called upon to visit clients all over the United States and in other countries.
Omar ref lects on his career with pride. When asked about how he feels regarding the current DEIA dismantling, Omar indicates that while some people may be hired under special initiatives, you still have to be able to perform. Omar says, “DEI can help you to get somewhere but it won’t help you stay there. It’s always incumbent on the person to be excellent at what you do.”
Omar indicates that growing up in a small town and tight-knit community helped to propel him to where he is today. He cites many people who encouraged him, recognized something in him, and pushed him to excel. Among his encouragers, Omar mentions Dr. Laura Petty-Burrell. As a teacher and church leader, she always provided inspiration and encouragement. She always took extra interest in him.
Omar is also a world traveler. He is often called upon to travel to where Accenture’s clients are based. He cites a six-month assignment in Hong Kong early in his career as one of his most rewarding trips. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 therefore English was used as a bridge language between Hong Kong and mainland China. This made it easier for him to work in the environment and travel to many other parts of Asia while on assignment. Omar was the only American on his team and today he is still one of the few people that “look like him.”
Personal travel is also one of his passions. His most memorable trip was to South Africa, where Omar indicates he went through a gamut of emotions; sadness while visiting the prison where Nelson Mandela was housed, having the opportunity to speak with the guide who was formerly imprisoned with Mandela; amazement while traveling on safari and getting an up-close personal view of lions and other wildlife, traveling the great wine region and witnessing the beauty of Cape Town to name a few.
He has traveled to Mexico City and has also been to India, where many of their teams are located.
Omar travels with his family every other year. He views it a blessing to be able to inspire others. He seeks to consistently elevate his families’ thinking, motivate them to excel, and share exciting trips where they can connect and make memories.
His desire to travel was inspired when he was a student in Mark Brady’s world geography honors class. Each year, there was a Brady Bunch tour where you could pay and go to two or three other countries. The year Omar was eligible, he did not get to take the tour because of finances. As a result, he was motivated to ensure that he would never let money be a barrier to him again and spends his free time traveling the world.
When asked what he would view as his legacy, Omar wants to continue to mentor and coach others who come behind him to stay motivated. To be successful, Omar indicates that he has had to reinvent himself many times. He constantly strives to prove himself and also reaches back to encourage others. He wants to instill in others the notion that “you can always persevere. A NO is only temporary. It’s more of a not right now.”
As for his most rewarding accomplishment, Omar is proud to have been able to assist his mother in acquiring a new home when her house burned to the ground in 2023. Fortunately, his mother was not hurt, but almost everything in the house was lost. The only thing salvaged from the tragedy was a cedar chest with all of their photos and accomplishments.
For Omar, being able to support his mother was a result of all the hard work he put in over the years. The thing Omar is most grateful for is the encouragement and support of the Rockdale community along the way.
Omar currently lives in Houston with his Maltipoo, Silas.
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