Penda D. Hair

Penda D. Hair

"An aggressive racial justice advocate with 20 years of civil rights experience, Penda Hair has a stellar record of victories both in and out of court. A leader in the national struggle to protect affirmative action, Hair developed crucial Fair Housing Act amendments, argued major civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and won the most extensive redistricting remedy ever imposed in a litigated voting rights suit. She is the author of the Rockefeller Foundation's report on innovative civil rights strategies, Louder Than Words: Lawyers, Communities, and the Struggle for Justice (2001) and former Washington, DC office director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. A 1978 Harvard Law School graduate, Hair also served as a clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Wilfred Feinberg and former Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. In 1998, The American Lawyer named Hair one of the top public interest attorneys under age 45."


 * Director, Advancement Project