Lezli Baskerville (born January 22, 1956) is an American lawyer, judge, and is the president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

Early life

Baskerville was born in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, to Marjorie Baskerville and Charles W. Baskerville. Her mother was a teacher and social worker, and her father was a marketing executive. She was born an identical twin to Dr. Renee E. Baskerville. She graduated from Montclair High School. She earned her bachelor's degree from

Douglass Residential College Douglass Residential College, is an undergraduate, non degree granting higher education program of Rutgers University-New Brunswick for women. It succeeded the liberal arts degree-granting Douglass College after it was merged with the other unde ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She earned her J.D. from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1979. She graduated cum laude and was trained as a constitutional rights lawyer. She graduated from the Executive Management Program for Minority Directors at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

’s

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

Career

For ten years between 1989 and 1999, Baskerville managed a private legal and legislative services collective, The Baskerville Group. Then, From 1999 until 2003, Baskerville was vice president for government relations for

The College Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...

. She was the chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C., office and oversaw many programs. She served as co-chair of the Pathways to College Network. She also helped lead the design of the College Board's Equity Initiative, as well as the National Dialogue on Student Financial AId. Baskerville served as executive director of the National Black Leadership Roundtable. She also served as the appellate counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. For twenty years, Baskerville served

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

for the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Additionally, she served as national legislative counsel for the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

. She also was an administrative appeals judge in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Baskerville became the president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. She was its first female president and was also the first person to lead the organization who is not a current president of a Black college or university. She serves on the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

's Academic Advisory Commission, as well as the HBCU Capital Finance Board and the STEM4US Board.

Honors and awards

Baskerville was named one of the 100 Women Leaders in STEM by StemConnector. She was named one of the 25 Women Making a Difference by Diverse Issues in Higher Education. AOL Black Voices named her one of the Top 10 Black Women in Higher Education.

Ebony Magazine ''Ebony'' is a monthly magazine that focuses on news, culture, and entertainment. Its target audience is the African-American community, and its coverage includes the lifestyles and accomplishments of influential black people, fashion, beauty, an ...

named her one of the Top 100 Most Influential Association Leaders for six straight years. She has received an honorary doctorate from

Benedict College Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across the liberal arts ...

. In 1998, she was inducted into The Douglass Society by Douglass College.

Personal life

Baskerville currently lives in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskerville, Lezli Living people American women lawyers American lawyers American twins American women chief executives Rutgers University alumni Howard University School of Law alumni Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni Lawyers from Montclair, New Jersey 1956 births 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers