Maya Wiley

About the Author

Maya Wiley is president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. She is a former legal analyst on MSNBC. A life-long civil rights advocate and a civil rights attorney, she mounted a historic performance in New York City's 2021 Democratic mayoral primary, contesting to be the first woman Mayor on a reform platform. Prior to that race she served as senior vice president for social justice at the New School University and as a member of the graduate faculty at its Milano School. She was the first Black woman to serve as Counsel to a New York City Mayor, Maya’s expertise and compassionate approach was (and remains) almost unprecedented in the world of advocacy, activism and politics. She also serves as the Joseph L. Rash Jr. Chair of Civil and Human Rights at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Harlan, their three cats and her revolving door of young adult children, two of whom are biological and others happily inherited.