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Wade J. Henderson (born April 22, 1948) is an
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
advocate, community leader and governmental activist. He has served as president of the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is an American coalition of more than 240 national civil and human rights organizations and acts as an umbrella group for American civil and human rights. Founded as the Leadership Conference o ...
(LCCHR) and counsel to the Leadership Conference Education Fund.


Career

He is a graduate of
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
and the Rutgers University School of Law, and a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the founder and president of Wade J. Henderson, LLC, which gives strategic advice on civil and human rights issues, and a former Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Professor of Public Interest Law at the David A. Clarke School of Law, University of the District of Columbia. Henderson was the Washington Bureau director of the NAACP from 1991 to 1996, where he directed the organization's government affairs and national legislative program. Henderson has participated in social justice coalitions and developed strategies for local and international civil and human rights policies, among other public actions. During his tenure as president, LCCHR policy initiatives included reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act and lobbying for passage of the Help America Vote Act, the Fair Sentencing Act, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the ADA Amendments Act, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He also supported the confirmations of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, and U.S. Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. During Henderson's tenure as president of the
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is an American coalition of more than 240 national civil and human rights organizations and acts as an umbrella group for American civil and human rights. Founded as the Leadership Conference o ...
the organization grew from 170 to 230 member organizations. He has attended human rights conferences in Geneva, Switzerland, Germany, South Africa, Israel, and Chile. In 2015, he testified before the U.N. General Assembly to call for an international response to the global rise of anti-Semitism and other hate crimes. From 2007-2011 Henderson served on the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...
(FDIC) Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, which was created in 2006 to provide the FDIC with advice and recommendations on access to banking services by underserved populations. He also advocated for fair-chance hiring practices at banks to give ex-offenders a chance at securing work. As of February 2021, Henderson's volunteer activities focused on improving educational and financial opportunities for disadvantaged populations. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a pro bono advisor at the
Center for Responsible Lending The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a nonprofit organization research and policy group based in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Its stated purpose is to educate the public about financial products and to push for policies that curb ...
, a member of the Board of Trustees of the
Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Lawrence Township, New Jersey, but has a P ...
and a member of the Foundation Board of Directors of the District of Columbia School of Law (DCSL). Before his role with The Leadership Conference, Henderson directed the Washington Bureau of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. He directed the organization’s government affairs and national legislative programs; and served as associate director of the Washington office of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
.


Awards

*Honorary Doctorate, Queens College School of Law, City University of New York *Honorary Doctorate, Gettysburg College *Member,
Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...
fraternity


References

https://civilrights.org/about/our-staff/wade-henderson/


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Wade 1948 births Living people Activists for African-American civil rights Howard University alumni Kappa Alpha Psi Rutgers University alumni American social justice activists