American Constitution Society Board Elects Keith Harper Chair, Michele Goodwin as Chair-Elect

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, media@acslaw.org

Washington, DC – The American Constitution Society’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce Ambassador Keith M. Harper (ret.) was elected Chair of the Board. Harper succeeds Roscoe Jones Jr., who will remain on the Board.

Michele Goodwin – Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Constitutional Law and Global Health Policy at Georgetown Law – also was elected as Board Chair-Elect. She is the Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. (Full bio can be read here.)

“I am honored to serve as Chair of the ACS Board of Directors at such a pivotal moment for our country,” said Harper. “As ACS approaches its 25th anniversary, our mission remains vital: to uphold the rule of law, strengthen our democracy, and protect our constitutional rights.”

“I am grateful for this opportunity to be part of ACS’s leadership,” Goodwin said. “ACS’s role has never been more vital. I look forward to supporting ACS’s vibrant network as it shapes the future of justice and democracy.”

Harper, who was appointed to the ACS Board in 2017, is Chair of the Native American Practice at Jenner and Block. His areas of practice include government and regulatory litigation, Native American litigation, and counseling on international matters and Business & Human Rights.

Harper also served in the Obama Administration as U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, and, as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was the first-ever member of a federally-recognized Indian tribe to serve as a U.S. Ambassador. From 2010 to 2014, Harper served as a Commissioner on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Harper received his J.D. from New York University and his B.A. from University of California Berkeley in sociology and psychology. He clerked for the Hon. Lawrence W. Pierce in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (Full bio can be read here.)

“Serving as Board Chair of ACS has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life,” said Jones, during the Board’s Dec. 3 meeting. “Leading this organization at such a pivotal time for our democracy — alongside all of you — has been both humbling and inspiring. Together, we have strengthened ACS’s mission, elevated its national voice, expanded support for our chapters and members, and prepared the organization for a new president who will carry that work forward with energy and vision.”

“I am grateful to Roscoe for his stewardship of the Board the past two years,” said ACS Interim President Zinelle October. “As a Board member, Roscoe has been an instrumental leader, serving on our Executive, Fundraising, and Diversity Committees as well as the recent Presidential Search Committee. I am thankful he will remain on the Board so that we may benefit from his continued leadership and expertise. And I very much look forward to the leadership of Keith and Michele, a dynamic duo, at this critical time.”

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org