WASHINGTON – After 20 years as head of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Wade Henderson has announced his plan to step down at the end of 2016.
“This announcement is just one step on a very long path in ensuring the long-term health, integrity and effectiveness of The Leadership Conference and its coalition of more than 200 civil rights groups,” said Henderson. “There’s an unmistakable generational transition happening in the civil and human rights movement. The day-to-day work of civil rights advocacy is extremely important, but on its own, is not enough. Leaders also have the responsibility to cultivate, encourage and make paths for the next generation to lead and to thrive.”
Henderson’s announcement is the next step of a multi-year plan to prepare the organization for a generational shift in civil and human rights leadership that has included a restructuring of the organization’s board, a strengthening of its staff capacity, improved fundraising and fiscal controls, and a renewed emphasis on civil rights as human rights.
A national search will be conducted for the next president and CEO of The Leadership Conference and its sister organization, The Leadership Conference Education Fund. The other members of the organizations’ executive leadership team, Executive Vice President for Policy Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Karen Lawson, and Executive Vice President for Field and Communications Ellen Buchman, will be in place to ensure a stable transition.
Henderson joined The Leadership Conference—then known as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights—in 1996 after serving as Washington Bureau chief of the NAACP and associate director of the ACLU. Under his leadership, the coalition has grown from 180 to more than 200 member organizations—including its first Muslim and Sikh civil rights groups—and from a staff of 7 to 45—adding development, field, and communications departments, as well as the Americans for Financial Reform project.
Henderson has led the coalition through the passage of every major civil rights law in the past 20 years, greatly expanded the footprint of domestic civil and human rights organizations in global human rights work, and led The Education Fund’s work to build the political will throughout the country for civil rights reforms. A listing of select highlights from 1996 to 2015 is below.
Much of Henderson’s proudest work is still in progress, including negotiations in Congress around criminal justice reform and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, groundbreaking work to ensure transparency of police body-worn camera programs and the role of civil rights in the era of big data, and continued efforts to restore the Voting Rights Act.
“You want to leave at the top of your game,” Henderson said. “The landscape of Washington has clearly changed, but The Leadership Conference has adapted and evolved, and some of its best work is taking place right now.”
Known for decades as the lobbying arm of the civil rights movement, The Leadership Conference has coordinated the advocacy on behalf of every major civil rights law since it was founded in 1950 by Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Arnold Aronson of the organization now known as the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. The Education Fund, founded in 1969 as the research and public education arm of the coalition, builds public and political will for policies and laws that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all.
Both organizations have grown to complement their policy expertise with a strong field and communications capacity to conduct public education campaigns that leverage a range of diverse voices to empower and mobilize advocates around the country to advance progressive change at the local, state and federal level.
Through it all, Henderson’s belief that “if you want a friend, you have to be a friend” has strengthened the impact of the nation’s most diverse coalition of organizations representing persons of color, women, children, organized labor, persons with disabilities, seniors, the LGBT community, and faith communities.
“Wade is a visionary leader, a superlative strategist, and a brilliant and committed institution builder,” said Judith Lichtman, chair of The Leadership Conference board, and William Robinson, chair of The Education Fund board. “He has transformed The Leadership Conference and our entire movement. We’ll never replace Wade, but we will ensure that his torch is passed to a new generation that will provide dynamic, forward-thinking leadership for the organizations and for our movement.”
“Throughout his career Wade Henderson has been a tireless advocate for the just and equal treatment of each and every person,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His commitment to ensuring strong and effective civil rights protections for everyone has improved the lives of countless Americans. Wade has also been a vocal champion of the rights of LGBT people, committed to the ideal that regardless of who you are or who you love, everyone should have equal opportunity to succeed.”
