Kristen Clarke is the General Counsel of the NAACP. She previously served as the 19th Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice between 2021 and 2025. In this role, she led enforcement of federal civil rights laws across the country.  

Under her leadership, the Division established new enforcement records for prosecutions of hate crimes, and law enforcement misconduct cases, and achieved groundbreaking results in areas including redlining, environmental justice, jail and prison reform, education, fair housing, voting rights and more. 

Clarke's tenure brought renewed focus on victims and survivors of violence. She supervised successful prosecutions of defendants tied to the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tyre Nichols and many others. 

Clarke is a frequent public speaker who has helped to shape the national dialogue around issues of civil and constitutional rights, and race and democracy. She has testified about these issues before the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.  

She also works to train the next generation of civil rights lawyers and advocates. Clarke leads the Civil Rights Clinic at Howard University School of Law, a clinic that was started by Charles Hamilton Houston. 
 

Clarke is a lifelong civil rights lawyer, and a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School.