About the Speaker: Jerika L. Richardson is Senior Vice President for Equitable Justice & Strategic Initiatives at the National Urban League. She leads the organization’s advocacy, public education, and strategic work on civic engagement, voting rights, police reform, criminal justice reform, and other justice related areas. Previously, Ms. Richardson was Deputy Executive Director and the Senior Advisor & Secretary to the Board for the nation’s largest independent police oversight agency, the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board. She has also served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Counsel to the Mayor of New York City and Special Advisor to the Mayor for media relations, criminal justice, and public safety planning. Before working in City Hall, Ms. Richardson was the Senior Spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and a Field Producer & Off-Air Reporter for ABC News.
Ms. Richardson remains civically engaged by serving on the Board of Directors for the Frederick Douglass Blvd Alliance and as an active member on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Engagement. She frequently appears as a political commentator on television and radio and as a moderator/panelist for conversations focused on diversity, equity, social justice, and police accountability. Ms. Richardson was named a New York City 40 Under 40 Rising Star by City & State Magazine in 2015. She was also selected in 2014 as a Fellow for the Council of Urban Professionals, an organization that she continues to work with on diversity and leadership initiatives.
Ms. Richardson is a member of the Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in English from Spelman College.
About the Moderator: Marlene Harris-Taylor is director of engaged journalism which includes managing Ideastream Public Media's health team and the special project Connecting the Dots Between Race and Health. Prior to this role she was the managing producer of health for two years and a reporter on the health team for more than three years.
She is also on the board of directors for the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Press Club of Cleveland.
Marlene has also been the medical editor for the Toledo Blade newspaper, public affairs host/producer for WBGU-PBS, and a producer for NPR’s "Morning Edition."
Marlene is a graduate of The Ohio State University and has a master’s degree from Miami University of Ohio.
More information at akronrountable.org.
