Cornell William Brooks
| Cornell William Brooks | |
|---|---|
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| President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | |
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Assumed office 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Lorraine Miller |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Cornell William Brooks 1961 (age 55–56) El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Jackson State University (B.A.) Boston University (M.Div.) Yale University (J.D.) |
Cornell William Brooks (born 1961) is an American lawyer and activist. He was chosen to be the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in May 2014. He previously served as president of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark, New Jersey, and as executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington. Brooks attended Jackson State University, where he received a BA in political science with honors. He subsequently earned his Master of Divinity, with a concentration in social ethics and systematic theology, at the Boston University School of Theology. He also received a law degree from Yale University, where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and member of the Yale Law and Policy Review.
Brooks was Senior Counsel with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), directing the FCC’s Office of Communication Business Opportunities. He also served as a trial attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He ran as the Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress for the 10th District of Virginia in 1998 on a platform for public education, affordable healthcare and fiscal responsibility. In 2010, Brooks served on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's transition team on the Committee on Homeland Security and Corrections.
The executive board of the NAACP elected Brooks as the next chief executive on May 16, 2014 by a large majority. His appointment followed a period of turmoil for the organization, which had a severe budget shortfall and laid off workers only months before Brooks' election. Furthermore, even though branches are autonomous from the main organization, the national office received scrutiny about fundraising after the Los Angeles branch awarded Donald Sterling, the Los Angeles Clippers owner who was banned from the NBA after racist remarks, with a lifetime achievement award. Brooks later delivered a message to the NAACP's 105th Convention in Las Vegas, NV, calling for an NAACP "one million members strong." During the convention, he hosted Vice President Joe Biden, who addressed delegates about voter suppression.
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