Sherrilyn Ifill served as the seventh President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) from 2013 to 2022, currently serving as President and Director-Counsel Emeritus. Ifill, the second woman to ever lead LDF, provided transformational leadership during one of the most consequential moments in U.S. history. Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, joining the staff of LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases. In 1993, Ifill became University of Maryland School of Law faculty where she taught civil procedure and constitutional law, pioneering a series of civil rights law clinics. Ifill is a prolific scholar whose published academic articles and commentaries in leading newspapers and law journals. Her book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” is credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and racial reconciliation. Ifill has powerfully influenced the dialogue about racial justice in the U.S. Known for her fact-based, richly contextualized analysis of racial issues, Ifill is a trusted advisor to political/business leaders and communities. In 2021, Ifill was appointed to President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court.
Sherrilyn Ifill will speak at the World Justice Forum's Ruth Bader Ginsburg Legacy Keynote Conversation with Sherrilyn Ifill