THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE EDUCATION FUND - Key Persons

Addie Whisenant served as assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden-Harris administration, where she oversaw internal and external communications, media relations, digital, and stakeholder engagement for the agency and served as a key advisor to Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. Prior to her time at HUD. Whisenant held several top-level roles, including serving as the Director of African American Media in the White House. Whisenant received her bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Adrina Bradley

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Senior Assistant, Development

Alejandra Montoya-Boyer

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Senior Director, Center for Civil Rights & Technology

Alexis McGill Johnson

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Director
President & CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Alicia King

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Vice President, People & Culture

Amy Britt

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Senior Data Manager

Amy Vertal

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Senior Program Manager, Census & Data Equity

Ana L. Oliveira

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Director
President & CEO of the New York Women 's Foundation

Andy Meruvia

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Senior IT Manager

Anjali Thakur-Mittal

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Interim Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Field & Membership

Anthony Romero

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Director
American Civil Liberties Union

Ben Goldberg

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Senior IT Assistant

Bree Spencer

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Senior Program Director, Justice Reform

Calandra Burgess

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Senior Member Services Associate

Carmen Morrison

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Budget Analyst

Carolyn Osolinik

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Member of the Emeritus Board
Partner, Correia & Osolinik

Carter Wynne

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Program Manager, Fighting Hate & Bias / Center for Civil Rights and Technology

Cathy Albisa

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Director
Vice President of Institutional and Sectoral Change

Cedric Lawson

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Field Director

Chanel Sherrod

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Government Affairs Program Manager

Charlene Dillard

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Senior Office Associate & Receptionist

Chloé White

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Policy Counsel, Justice

Chris Canning - COO, EVP

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COO
Executive Vice President

Chris Canning served as principal deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he oversaw operational functions including human resources, information technology, and labor relations. While at HHS, Canning also led the return to the workplace effort and coordinated diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. Earlier in Canning's career, he served as the chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, as a public affairs consultant specializing in advocacy communications and crisis management, and in several roles at the Democratic National Committee. Canning has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and resides in Maryland with his spouse and three children.

Christian F. Nunes

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Director

Corrine Yu

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Senior Advisor
Senior Advisor of Institutional Knowledge Management

Corrine Yu is senior advisor for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund, where, as a member of the Executive team, she is responsible for seeking and developing special operations projects related to the organizations' history and the capture of institutional knowledge. Ms. Yu also helps advise and lead on initiatives designed to cultivate and deepen advocacy expertise within the organizations and the civil and human rights coalition, as well as on initiatives designed to foster and nurture intergenerational connections within a variety of sectors. Ms. Yu is also helping the organizations grow thoughtful voices for change, including through the organizations' internship program. Ms. Yu most recently served as The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund's interim executive vice president of campaigns and programs. Before that, Ms. Yu served as the senior program director, special projects, where she advocated for the coalition's policy positions to officials in the executive and legislative branches and was the staff liaison for coalition task forces on census and media/telecommunications; as the organizations' managing policy director, assisting in the day-to-day management of the policy department; as the director of special projects, where she was responsible for developing concepts for, planning and implementing new and groundbreaking initiatives for the organizations; and as the director of education, with oversight responsibilities for all of The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund's offline and online communications, publications, and research, including the expansion and design of civilrights.org, the organizations' award-winning website. Before joining The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund, Ms. Yu was the director and counsel of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, a private, bipartisan organization established to monitor the civil rights policies and practices of the federal government and to examine important policy issues affecting equal opportunity. She was the co-editor of the Citizens' Commission's highly respected biennial reviews of the Clinton administration's civil rights track record. Prior to joining the Citizens' Commission, Ms. Yu was an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans and Doyle where she specialized in First Amendment, antitrust, and other litigation. She is a graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School.

Crystal Smith-Hunt

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Senior Manager, Benefits

Damon Hewitt

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Director

David Inoue

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Director

David Stoll

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Campaigns & Programs Assistant

David Toomey

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Voting Rights and Technology Fellow

Dena Craig

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Director of Media Relations

Dorian Warren

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President, Community Change Action / Treasurer

Elizabeth Birch

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President & CEO / Elizabeth Birch Company

Eloy Kapote

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Staff Accountant

Erica Jeong

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Manager, Donor Relations

Erika Friman

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Senior People & Culture Associate

Esteban Camarena

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Field Manager, Census & Data Equity

Eunic Epstein-Ortiz

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Communications Advisor
Executive Vice President of Communications

Eunic Epstein-Ortiz is a nationally recognized communications advisor and activist dedicating her career to social justice fights for over 15 years. Her work has brought her to New York City, Washington, D.C., Florida, and every battleground state from Nevada to Pennsylvania. Eunic has been at the center of the fight for LGBTQ+ civil rights for her entire career, working with activists from across New York City and the country to move pro-equality legislation. Eunic received several recognitions for her work including 25 Most Remarkable Women in New York City and 10 People Making a Difference from Politico New York.

Evan Hartung

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Senior Communications Assistant

Fair Courts

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Senior Manager

Fatima Goss Graves

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Secretary

Fawn Sharp

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Director

Fey Cárdenas

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Field Manager

Frank Nolan

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Senior Campaigns and Programs Associate

Frank Torres

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Civil Rights Technology Fellow

Gara LaMarche

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Director
Senior Adviser to the Raben Group

Geraldine R. Segal

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Member of the Emeritus Board
Professor of American Thought, University of Pennsylvania

Gloria L. Blackwell

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Director

Hillary Medina-Loveless

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Senior Field Manager, Education Equity Program / Finance and Administration

Imani Bryant

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Senior Census and Data Equity Assistant

James Rucker

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Director
Co - Founder, Citizen Engagement Lab ( CEL ) & ColorOfChange

Janai Nelson

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Director
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc

Janet Murguía

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Director

Jariah McFadden

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Manager, Institutional Relations

Jesselyn McCurdy

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Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at the Leadership Conference of Civil

Jesselyn McCurdy is the Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at The Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights. Prior to joining The Leadership Conference, Jesselyn was a Deputy Political Director at the National Political Advocacy Department of the American Civil Liberties Union. She led the NPAD Equality Division that engages in federal and state advocacy as well as campaigns on immigration rights, racial justice, and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian issues. Before joining the Equality team, Jesselyn led the ACLU's federal criminal justice advocacy work at the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, including federal sentencing, prison reform, drug policy, capital punishment, and police reform. She was a member of the WLO staff before joining the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee's Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee as Counsel. While working for the Judiciary Committee, she was the lead House Counsel for the historic Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, the legislation that lowered the 100 to 1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Prior to joining the ACLU, Jesselyn was the Co-Director of the Children's Defense Fund's Education and Youth Development Division. Also, she has authored the chapter entitled Targets for Arrest in the book "From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline." Jesselyn received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Political Science from Rutgers University and her Juris Doctor from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.

Jheanelle Wilkins

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Senior Government Affairs Advisor ( Director )

Jocelyn Frye

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Director
National Partnership for Women & Families

Jocelyn Sargent

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Director
Co - Founder of Sargent Adams Consulting / President and CEO

John C. Yang

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Director

John Relman

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Director
Managing Partner, Relman Colfax

Jonathan Greenblatt

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Director

Jonathan Walter

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Policy Counsel, Media and Technology

Judith L. Lichtman - Chairman

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Chairman
Director
Board Chair, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights / Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Women & Families

Kanya Bennett

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Managing Director of Government Affairs

Kelley Robinson

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Director
Human Rights Campaign

Kelsey Edwards

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Senior Manager, Foundation Relations

Khalid Pitts

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Executive Vice President of Campaigns & Programs

Khalid Pitts served as the vice president of policy, advocacy and coalitions at the Rockefeller Foundation and has worked as a senior political strategist for some of the country's largest advocacy organizations, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Sierra Club. Pitts brings extensive issue advocacy, campaign, and coalition building experience, particularly in the areas of democracy, economic equity, gun violence prevention, and health care. Along with being a founder and executive board co-chair of Healthcare for America Now, the grassroots coalition that brought together 1000 organizations to pass, protect, and promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA), he is also the past president of USAction. Pitts received his undergraduate degree in History from the College of the Holy Cross and his Masters in Public Health from the George Washington School of Medicine.

Koustubh Bagchi - VP

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Vice President
Vice President, Center for Civil Rights & Technology

Kristen Booker

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Director, People Operations

Kristen Hairston

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Development

Kylee Reynolds

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Policy Counsel, Fair Courts

Lee A. Saunders - Treasurer

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Treasurer

Lena Zwarensteyn

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Senior Director, Fair Courts & Advisor / People and Culture

Leslie Proll

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Senior Director, Voting Rights Program

Lisa Haywood

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Senior Member Services Advisor

Lisa Rice

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Director

Liz King

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Senior Program Director, Education Equity

Liz Shuler

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Director
AFL - CIO

Mark Ricks

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Web Producer / Development

Mary Frances Berry

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Member of the Emeritus Board

Mary Kay Henry

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Director
Service Employees International Union

Mattie Goldman

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Senior Manager, Strategic Communications

Maya Wiley - CEO, President

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CEO
Director
President

Maya Wiley is a nationally respected civil rights attorney and activist who has dedicated her life to the fights for justice, equality, and fairness. Wiley's father was a leader in the civil rights and economic justice movements, and she has been a leader inside and outside government. Serving as the first Black woman counsel to the mayor of New York City, she helped deliver on civil and immigrant rights. During her tenure, the city also saw an expansion of minority/women-owned business enterprises contracts. Following her time at City Hall, Wiley moved to academia as a faculty member and senior vice president for social justice at the New School University. While there, she chaired the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). As chair, she led the release of the "hold" on proceedings against Daniel Pantaleo whose illegal chokehold killed Eric Garner. That move led to the CCRB's successful administrative prosecution of Pantaleo that resulted in his firing. Wiley's tenure at the CCRB was marked by increased case closure rates, increased transparency, and an intense focus on public outreach so that potential victims of police abuse were aware of ways to seek the board's assistance. In 2021, Wiley was a candidate for New York City mayor. As a Henry Cohen professor of public and urban policy at the New School, Wiley founded the Digital Equity Laboratory on universal and inclusive broadband. She also served as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Early in her career, Wiley worked at the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., where she focused on multiple racial justice issues. She also worked in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Following the September 11 attacks, Wiley co-founded the nonprofit Center for Social Inclusion, an organization that focused on transforming structural racism into fair opportunity at the intersection of race and poverty as it relates to education, the digital divide, land use planning, the green economy, and more. Wiley was also a senior advisor on race and poverty at the Open Society Foundations. Wiley earned her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Harlan, and their two daughters and cats.