After 20 Years, Wade Henderson Prepares to Step Down
Following 20 years at the helm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Wade Henderson is planning to step down at the end of this year. (We photographed Wade with his wife, Marsha, earlier this year at Legal Aid's 26th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner, where Wade was the honoree.) His move is part of the organization's multi-year preparation for a "generational shift in civil and human rights leadership" that includes restructuring its board, strengthening staff capacity, growing fundraising and fiscal controls, and emphasizing civil rights as human rights. The organization's conducting a national search for its next president and CEO.
Wade (here with Debo Adegbile at an NAACP LDF event) grew the Leadership Conference from seven staff members to 45. Before joining the organization, he was NAACP Washington Bureau chief and ACLU associate director. Civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis said that Wade has been "a champion for an increase in the minimum wage, equal compensation for women, protecting the environment, and against voting discrimination" and a "reliable, dependable ally in the struggle for both civil and human rights."
