 From 1958 to 1959, Coltrane was President of the National Association of State Budget Officers.In the 1960s, Governor Terry Sanford created the Good Neighbor Council (the forerunner of the state's Human Relations Council, Now North Carolina Human Relations Commission) to help ease racial tensions that were building in the state because of civil rights struggles and integration issues.Sanford established this council on January 13, 1963, and appointed Coltrane as the first Chairman and Executive Director.