New Jersey Institute for Social Justice Names New Board of Trustees Chair and Vice Chair 

Paulette Brown to Succeed Douglas Eakeley as Chair; Robin Lenhardt to Succeed Brown as Vice Chair 

NEWARK – After eight years of powerful service as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Douglas S. Eakeley has stepped down from that role.

“We owe Doug a tremendous debt of gratitude for his steadfast, courageous and visionary leadership of the Institute’s Board of Trustees,” said Ryan P. Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Doug participated in the Institute’s first Board meeting more than twenty years ago when our legendary founder, the late Alan Lowenstein, recruited him to serve as a founding Trustee. Doug ultimately became the Institute’s third Board Chair, following the Hon. Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, who served as U.S. Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and the Hon. John J. Farmer, Jr., Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and former Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. Under Doug’s leadership, the Institute has become a premier racial and social justice legal and policy advocacy organization, doubling in size and nearly tripling in revenue. We simply could not be who we are today without Doug and are thankful that he will remain on the Board as we move our powerful work forward.”

Eakeley is the Alan V. Lowenstein Professor of Corporate and Business Law and Distinguished Professor of Practice at Rutgers University School of Law.

Paulette Brown, who has been serving as Vice Chair of the Board, has been named to succeed Mr. Eakeley as Chair.

“We are thrilled to welcome Paulette as the fourth Chair of the Institute’s Board,” said Haygood. “An internationally respected lawyer and DEI expert, Paulette has enjoyed a storied career as a trailblazer for justice. A former Senior Partner and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Locke Lord LLP and a national expert on labor, employment and commercial litigation, Paulette made history as the first woman of color to serve as President of the American Bar Association and also served as President of the National Bar Association. Now in her role at the Institute, Paulette will serve as the first woman and first person of color to lead the Institute’s Board of Trustees. We could not be more excited about the future of the Institute’s Board of Trustees under Paulette’s leadership.”

Robin A. Lenhardt will succeed Brown as Vice Chair. 

“We are excited to welcome Robin A. Lenhardt as the new Vice Chair of the Institute’s Board of Trustees. A national expert on race, family, citizenship and the law, Robin is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and co-founder of the Georgetown University Racial Justice Institute. Robin’s expertise, in combination with her fierce commitment to racial and social justice, will make her perfect for this position.”

Eakeley, Brown and Lendhart are part of a prestigious team of highly respected leaders on the Institute Board, including B. John Pendleton, Jr., who will remain Secretary of the Board, and Kenneth Y. Tanji, who will remain as Treasurer.

“To a person, our Board of Trustees is committed to the Institute’s charge of leading advocacy that empowers people of color by building reparative systems that create wealth, transform justice and harness democratic power – from the ground up – in New Jersey,” added Haygood.