WASHINGTON (March 5, 2013) – Wade Henderson, president and chief executive of The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and Hilary O. Shelton, director of the Washington Bureau and senior vice president of the NAACP, will discuss social activism in a presentation titled, “Civil Rights and Social Justice: Building Coalitions to Influence Public Policy.” The event will take place at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 in the School of Business auditorium.

Henderson and Shelton will be joined by Elaine Jones, former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The lecture continues with the general theme of this year’s Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Lecture series, “Civic Equality in the 21st Century: The Political Process, Education, Economic Power, and Individual Rights.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund is the nation’s premier civil and human rights coalition and boasts a membership of more than 200 diverse national organizations dedicated to civil and human rights in the United States. Wade Henderson is an authority on a wide range of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights issues, and he has written numerous articles on civil rights and public policy issues. Prior to  joining the Leadership Conference, Henderson served as the Washington Bureau director of the NAACP. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Howard University in 1970.

Hilary Shelton presently  is the Washington Bureau director and senior vice president for advocacy and policy for the NAACP. The Washington Bureau is the NAACP’s federal legislative and national public policy division. Shelton is responsible for advocating the NAACP’s federal public policy issue agenda.  Before assuming his position with the NAACP, Shelton served as Federal Liaison/Assistant Director to the Government Affairs Department of The College Fund/UNCF, also known as the United Negro College Fund.

Established in 2008 with Gwendolyn and Colbert King’s $1 million donation to the University, the lecture series enables highly accomplished individuals to come to Howard to share their experiences with current students. The Kings, who are both Howard alumni, inaugurated the series to reflect their successful careers in public service and the media. The discussion on social activism is the fourth Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy lecture in the current academic year.