Kristen Clarke

Kristen Clarke is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. In this role, she leads the Justice Department’s broad federal civil rights enforcement efforts and works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all who live in America. Assistant Attorney General Clarke began her career as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division through the Department of Justice’s Honors Program. In 2006, she joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where she helped lead the organization’s work in the areas of voting rights and election law across the country. In 2011, she was named the head of the Civil Rights Bureau for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, where she led broad civil rights enforcement actions. In 2015, Ms. Clarke became the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, leading the organization’s legal work in courts across the country addressing some of the nation’s most complex racial justice and civil rights challenges. Assistant Attorney General Clarke received her A.B. from Harvard University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School.