2022 - LouElla Cole

2022 BEOC Arthur O. Eve Education and Community Service Award

BEOC Class of 1995

Mrs. LouElla Cole-Bowens has empowered her family, students and our community through her educational achievements mirroring the life-long learning mission of the Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center (BEOC).

Mrs. LouElla Cole-Bowens.

“The Buffalo EOC gave me the foundation I needed to continue my education and provide for my family.”

In 1995, while working part-time during the day as a Home Health Aide, Mrs. Cole-Bowens enrolled in the  BEOC Certified Nursing Assistant evening program. It was at the Center that she realized an education is the real “key” to a successful and productive life.  While working 3rd shift at Sisters of Charity Hospital of Buffalo as a Certified Nursing Assistant, she enrolled at Bryant & Stratton College and received her Associates of Science Degree in 1997. Shortly thereafter, while working at Erie County Medical Center and Buffalo General Hospital on the weekends, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a certification in Long Term Care Administration from D’Youville College. She was later canvased for a teaching position at Bryant & Stratton College and became the Allied Health Program Director for both the Buffalo and South-Towns Campuses. Upon meeting an instructor at the Buffalo EOC, Mrs. Cole-Bowens applied for an adjunct teaching position at the Center and was hired in 2005 as the Lead Instructor for the Medical Billing & Coding program, where she has continued to teach for the past seventeen years.

Mrs. Cole-Bowens has been employed by Erie County for twenty-four years as a Head Social Welfare Examiner and Medical Office Assistant at Erie County Medical Center. In her current position as a county Employment Counselor, she impacts the lives of others by empowering them to pursue their own academic and career pursuits. Practicing what she preaches, LouElla has participated in numerous ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Educational Leadership Seminars.

Since 2017, as a role-model to her family, students and clients, Mrs. Cole-Bowens has volunteered for Stop the Violence Coalition, a non-profit community based organization devoted to reducing violence in the City of Buffalo and its surrounding areas. Working along-side community leaders, Mrs. Cole-Bowens mentors at-risk youth and young adults by equipping them with personal and professional development tools to transform their challenges into accomplishments.

According to Mrs. Cole-Bowens, “The Buffalo EOC gave me the foundation I needed to continue my education and provide for my family.”

Alumni Affairs and Student Development Office