Maxim Thorne is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who teaches on philanthropy at Yale University. He is the founder of JusticeInvestor, a litigation crowdfunding company focused on environmental and social justice cases. He became a Senior Vice-President of the

NAACP 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.&nb ...

in 2008, where he helped establish the first LGBT Task Force. Thorne helped argue '' Abbott v. Burke'' on behalf of Head Start and the NAACP.

Early life and education

Thorne was born in Georgetown, Guyana on 24 November 1964. He spent his early years in

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

, Bahamas along with his sister, Katya, attending St. Thomas Moore's Primary School, until he was 10, then returned to Guyana where he attended St. Margaret's Primary School and Queen's College. His mother, Eslyn Thorne, who is of mixed Indian and Chinese descent, met his father, who is also multi-ethnic (Black, Scottish, Indian and Chinese), while in Georgetown, Guyana. Thorne immigrated to the United States in 1984. He is the great-grandson of

Alfred A. Thorne Alfred Athiel Thorne, LLD, MA, also known as A.A.Thorne (August 14, 1871 – April 23, 1956), was a well-regarded elected statesman, author, pioneer for educational access, and human rights advocate in British Guyana. In 1894, Dr. Thorne found ...

, a human rights advocate and educator in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. Thorne holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

with cum laude honours in economics and political science from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and a JD from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Career

In 2012 he taught "Philanthropy in Action" at Yale, where a gift by an anonymous donor allowed students to donate $100,000 to charitable causes. Thorne becam
Managing Director
of The Andrew Goodman Foundation in 2016. Thorne was appointed Executive Vice-President of the

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...

in 2013. Previously he was chief operating officer at

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

, and Vice-President at

Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

.BBC News
Formerly, Thorne was Executive Director of New Jersey Head Start, an association of all the

Head Start Program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's s ...

s in New Jersey. While at the NJHSA, he oversaw the implementation of '' Abbott v. Burke'', the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the ...

decision that mandated parity in funding and Whole School Reform. Thorne joined the Passaic County Legal Aid Society (PCLAS) in 1996, and promoted to Deputy Director in June 1998. He and the Executive Director, John Atlas, created the Community and Economic Development law unit in 1997, the first in New Jersey, that represented and empowered faith-based and other community groups that were solving housing and education problems in Passaic County’s low-income neighborhoods. Among many innovations, Thorne created Cable TV programs: Know Your Rights, Working Together for Equal Justice, and Education in Your Neighborhood. As the head of the law unit he had represented Head Start, the New Jersey NAACP State Conference, and daycare centres in later litigation (''Abbott VIII''). For this and other efforts the Passaic Legal Aid Society won the first annual "Lawyer as Problem Solver Award" of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

in 2002. 4ttps://casetext.com/case/abbott-v-burke-20

Personal life

Thorne is openly gay.

References

External links

Essay: New Political and Legal Strategies for African-Americans: Dreaming Big, Dreaming Creatively

Interview with Mildred Bond Roxborough for NPR's StoryCorps

Yale Daily News article on Maxim Thorne presiding over the Yale Afro-American Cultural Center 2009 Gala

Maxim Thorne, testifying before the US Congress's LGBT Equality Caucus on the Census, Co-Chaired by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Barney Frank (D-MA), and Jared Polis (D-CO), April 1, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Maxim 1964 births Living people American chief executives American people of Chinese descent LGBT African Americans American philanthropists American Rhodes Scholars Yale Law School alumni People from Georgetown, Guyana Alumni of Queen's College, Guyana American LGBT businesspeople Yale College alumni