Desiree Boykin
Desiree C. Boykin is a distinguished legal executive and nonprofit leader serving as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Legal Advisor to the Board at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Inc. Based in Washington, D.C., she brings more than two decades of leadership within the organization, where she oversees all legal, governance, and compliance matters. In her role, she provides strategic counsel to executive leadership and the Board, ensuring that UNCF and its member historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) operate in alignment with applicable laws, regulations, and accreditation standards.
Throughout her tenure at UNCF, Boykin has held a series of progressively senior roles, including Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of the Corporation. Her legal expertise spans nonprofit, corporate, and education law, encompassing contracts, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and personnel matters. She has also managed complex legal areas such as trademarks, service marks, and patents, while previously overseeing entertainment-related legal work tied to organizational media initiatives. Known for her steady leadership, she leads a legal team that plays a critical role in advancing UNCF’s mission and organizational effectiveness.
Boykin earned her Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications, Print Journalism, from Howard University. Inspired early on by influential legal and civil rights leaders, she has built a career at the intersection of law, education, and equity. Deeply committed to expanding access to higher education, she continues to advocate for opportunities for underserved communities, working to ensure that systemic barriers do not limit the pursuit of academic and professional success.
• Doctor of Law (JD)
• Howard University School of Law
• National Bar Association
• National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division
What do you attribute your success to?
I've gotta say, relationships and people are why I'm successful. My parents put it into me that you gotta get a good education, and that became a drive and a motivation for me. Then they made sure that I had the opportunity to go to a good school. I was able to increase and improve upon that education. And then somebody gave me my first job, and they took me under their wing and taught me everything that they knew about this work, which allowed me to go from that to the next step, where I got even more education, skill, and exposure with somebody else pouring into me. And then that took me to this step, where somebody else took me under their wing, taught me, exposed me, and now I'm in the position of being able to teach and expose people to the work. But it's all about relationships, and who's in your life, and who's helping you get to the next step, and who's motivating you, because none of us do this by ourselves. So it's all about your relationships.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
First you gotta know the law. So you gotta make sure that you're keeping up with everything, all the changes, current law. But I would say go where your passion is. So, what do you want to advocate for? I wanted to advocate for education. Somebody else might want to advocate for women's health. Somebody else might want to advocate and make sure that everybody has a house to live in, or that we're saving the whales, or that children are kept safe. Whatever your passion is, make that your advocacy, and then all will follow, because now you can use what you have learned, that skill and that expertise to help further your passion. You have to be a lifelong learner, be adaptable, and you have to be able to withstand through the challenges. If it is a passion for you, you might go through some ups and downs, but let it continue to fuel you and keep you motivated to keep going, because you can see the goal.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is something you gotta earn every day. You gotta know who you are, and be true to yourself and true to others, so integrity I think is a big one. Compassion is another. You gotta feel for people, empathize with them, feel for your fellow man, your employees, your co-workers, your colleagues, your family. You gotta have some compassion. And then, I think the last one is you've gotta be willing to take action. You gotta be willing to do something. Sometimes it's not enough to have compassion. You actually gotta have that drive. You gotta get in the car and go visit somebody when they're sick. You've got a few extra dollars, and somebody needs it, you gotta give it to them. Just talking to people, oftentimes, is very helpful. Like, just sharing my own experiences and what I've learned over my 60 years of life. This is what I know. This is what you can take advantage of. So, I think those are it. You gotta have integrity, you gotta have compassion, and you gotta put those things into action.