We celebrate the power of connection across generations of Legal Defense Fund (LDF) alumni who have shaped our 85-year legacy. The Pioneer of Justice Award recipients reflect the brilliance, impact, and enduring spirit of the extraordinary LDF community, and our shared pursuit of justice.
Kristen Clarke served as the 19th Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from 2021 to 2025, leading enforcement of federal civil rights laws nationwide. During her tenure the Division set records in prosecuting hate crimes and police brutality cases, and achieved landmark results in the areas of redlining, education, disability rights, prison conditions and much more. She oversaw prosecutions tied to the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Tyre Nichols.
Before serving in the Biden-Harris administration, Clarke was President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and held leadership roles at the Legal Defense Fund and the New York Attorney General’s Office. She began her career in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Clarke currently teaches at Howard Law School and Penn Carey Law. She is a proud mother and the daughter of Jamaican immigrants.
Vanita Gupta is a lifelong civil rights advocate who served as the 19th Associate Attorney General of the United States (2021–2024), the first civil rights lawyer in a top three U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership position. She oversaw 13 DOJ components and led initiatives on police-community trust, reproductive rights, environmental justice, mental health, and gun violence prevention. Previously, she was CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, where she led national campaigns on voting rights, justice reform, and the 2020 census.
Gupta also directed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division under President Obama, investigating police departments and litigating landmark LGBTQ and voting rights cases. Earlier, she held leadership roles at the ACLU and the Legal Defense Fund, where she overturned dozens of wrongful convictions in Tulia, Texas.
She is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at NYU Law, where she just launched the Center for Law and Public Trust, founder of the NGO Solidarity Network, and a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College and NYU Law. She lives in Washington DC with her husband, Chinh Le, fellow alumnus of LDF, and two sons.
Dennis D. Parker retired in August 2025 as Director of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), a national organization advancing economic and racial justice for low-income communities. Prior to NCLEJ, Dennis led the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU, addressing issues like the school-to-prison pipeline, criminal justice bias, housing discrimination, and digital equity. He previously served as Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau in the New York Attorney General’s Office and spent 14 years at the Legal Defense Fund working on school desegregation, affirmative action, and educational equity. Dennis began his career at the Legal Aid Society and has written and lectured extensively on civil rights. He teaches at Teachers College, Columbia University, and NYU Law School, and serves on the boards of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council and Westchester Residential Opportunities. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Law School.
Hon. Peter Sherwood is Senior Counsel at Dorf Nelson and Zauderer LLP, bringing over 50 years of distinguished service as a litigator, judge, and public servant. As a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division, he presided over complex business, construction, employment, entertainment, insurance, and real estate disputes. His legacy includes precedent-setting civil rights litigation as Assistant Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund and as New York State Solicitor General and leadership as Solicitor General and New York City Corporation Counsel where he included advancement of civil and human rights as important parts mission of those offices. Justice Sherwood shaped public policy on civil rights, ethics, procurement, and minority business enterprise for the State and City. He also formed a $270 million local development organization and helped revitalize the premier community development corporation in America. He continues to serve as an arbitrator, mediator, and special master, resolving high-stakes commercial and public disputes. His career reflects a deep commitment to justice, equity, community development and public service across government, nonprofit, and private sectors.
Bill Lann Lee is a 45-year veteran civil rights lawyer. He served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, leading federal civil rights enforcement in the Clinton Administration from December 1997-January 2001. Prior to his tenure at the DOJ, Bill served as Assistant Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund and head of civil rights enforcement at the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles from 1984-88. He was co-head of LDF’s Los Angeles office from 1989-97. After his service in DOJ, Bill prosecuted civil rights and disability rights actions with the San Francisco firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, the Oakland firm Lewis, Feinberg, Lee & Jackson, PC. and the Denver-based Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center in its Berkeley office. Bill graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1974 and Yale College in 1971.
As we gather to celebrate the enduring legacy of the Legal Defense Fund, I am profoundly moved by the strength and spirit of our alumni community. For 85 years, LDF has been shaped by the wisdom, dedication, and courage of those who have walked through its doors, each contributing to the pursuit of justice in powerful and lasting ways.
Today, the civil rights legal infrastructure that this dedicated cadre of leaders helped build faces an existential threat. As it has been for more than eight decades, in the face of extreme hardship, LDF remains steadfast in its audacious vision of an America that lives up to its promise: a multiracial, multiethnic democracy where power is shared, dignity is sacred, and thriving is the standard. Tonight, we come together to honor where we have been, garner strength and solidarity for the battles ahead, and defiantly find joy in community.
Tonight’s Pioneer of Justice Award recipients embody this legacy. They represent not only individual excellence, but the collective impact of a network committed to advancing equality and protecting civil rights. I am humbled by their achievements and honored to stand alongside them and all of you who have helped build and sustain this vital institution.
Thank you for continuing to carry LDF’s mission forward. Together, we remain a force for justice.
