Vanita Gupta
Vanita Gupta (born November 15, 1974)[1] is an American civil rights attorney. She is the president and chief executive officer of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. From 2014 to 2017, she served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general and head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she was the chief civil rights prosecutor for the United States.
Formerly, she was a civil rights lawyer and the deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she oversaw its national criminal justice reform efforts. She has also served as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Throughout her career, she has drawn support from a wide range of liberal and conservative activists, as well as law enforcement leaders, for building collaborative support and finding common ground on policing and criminal justice reform.
President Joe Biden has nominated Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney General.
Education
Vanita Gupta received her B.A. degree magna cum laude from Yale University.She received her J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 2001.
NILC endorsement
In 2021 the National Immigration Law Center endorsed Vanita Gupta for Biden's Cabinet.
“Who Is The Next Stacey Abrams?”
January 2021 Jessica Byrd, Founding Partner, Three Point Strategies, Maurice Moe Mitchell, Anathea Chino Co-Founder and Executive Director, Advanced Native Political Leadership , Alejandra Gomez Co-Executive Director, Lucha Arizona, Andrea Guerrero Executive Director, Alliance San Diego, Vanita Gupta President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and United States Associate Attorney General Nominee, and Michelle Tremillo Executive Director, Texas Organizing Project were all included in the list of “Who Is The Next Stacey Abrams?” by Democracy In Color With Steve Phillips.[1]
Erase The Hate's Advisory Council
In 2018 Erase the Hate's Advisory Council members included Vanita Gupta President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
National Leading From the Inside Out Alum
Vanita Gupta, Deputy Legal Director, Director of Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, was a 2010 Rockwood Leadership Institute National Leading From the Inside Out Alum.[2]
President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Cohort: 2010-2011
Vanita Gupta is the President and CEO of Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Previously Vanita was the Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Liberties Division. Before her position at the Department of Justiice Vanita was the Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union and Director of the ACLU's Center for Justice, which houses the organization's criminal justice reform, prisoners' rights, and capital punishment work. She also led the ACLU's National Campaign to End Mass Incarceration.
Vanita is an adjunct clinical professor at NYU School of Law, where she teaches and oversees a racial justice litigation clinic. Vanita has won numerous awards for her advocacy and has been quoted extensively in national and international media on racial justice and criminal justice issues. She has served as a consultant for the Open Society Institute on various international human rights projects in Central Europe and Africa
Long term ties
Pramila Jayapal made several friends on the year long course. Ai-jen Poo, Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Rinku Sen, Executive Director Applied Research Center, Ilyse Hogue, former Director of Political Advocacy and Communications, MoveOn.org, Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Director, Advancement Project, Vanita Gupta, Deputy Legal Director, Director of Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union.
The group has worked closely together ever since.[3]