Barbara R. Arnwine, the executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law since 1989, is internationally renowned for contributions on critical justice issues, including the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991. A graduate of Scripps College and Duke University School of Law, her work focuses on issues including housing, fair lending, community development, employment, voting, education, environmental justice and the preservation of affirmative action and diversity programs. In 1995 and 2000, she served as the convener of the National Conference on African American Women and the Law. Her work has contributed to a United Nations Platform for Action that provides protection for women who confront multiple forms of discrimination and to a report and action agenda for advocacy before the UN General Assembly Special Session on Women. In 2001, she helped to draft provisions of the program for action of the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa. In 2004 and 2008, Ms. Arnwine was a prominent leader of the nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition. She has received many awards, including the Keeper of the Flame Award from the Boston Lawyers’ Committee, the prestigious Rockwood Institute Leadership Fellowship, the Charlotte E. Ray Award from the Greater Washington Area Chapter of the Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association, and the Association’s Equal Justice Award and the C. Francis Stradford Award, the highest honor bestowed by that organization.

Show full bio

Hide full bio