NJ Civil Rights Lawyer Named Head Of Southern Poverty Law Center

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A lifelong civil rights lawyer from New Jersey who has been at the forefront of some of the state’s biggest social justice movements of the past decade is taking over the helm of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Ryan Haygood has been named as the new president and CEO of the nationally known nonprofit, which has recently come under fire from the Trump administration – and seen other iconic civil rights groups like the NAACP and the ACLU rally on its behalf. The Southern Poverty Law Center has since filed a motion to dismiss the federal charges based on vindictive prosecution.

Haygood has served as the president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) for the last 11 years. The Newark-based nonprofit “empowers Black, Brown and other people of color by building reparative systems that create wealth, transform justice and harness democratic power from the ground up.”

Haygood will depart the NJISJ on July 31 for his new job with the Southern Poverty Law Center. He will officially join the SPLC in late August.

Haygood said it was an “honor” to helm the NJISJ over the past decade – and expressed hope for the future of the Garden State.

“New Jersey has the opportunity to be a national beacon of racial justice at a moment when our country desperately needs it,” he said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center noted that Haygood previously served as deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund, where he worked for more than a decade.

“At this defining moment, when our country desperately needs both the courage to resist and the vision to construct what has never existed before, the SPLC board is proud and grateful to welcome Ryan to the helm,” chair Karen Baynes-Dunning said.

NEW LEADERSHIP

Henal Patel, who has served as the NJISJ’s law and policy director, has been named interim president and CEO of the nonprofit as Haygood prepares for his upcoming departure.

Laura Sullivan, who has served as director of the economic justice program, will now serve as the NJISJ’s interim law and policy director.

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