Rebecca Perloff

I have been working in civil rights and social justice for the last 15 years, and I currently serve as president of the NAACP Baton Rouge branch, which is the capital city branch of Louisiana. Before ascending to the presidency during MLK Week after our previous president resigned, I was the first vice president of the branch and served as the caucus administrator for the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. I took over during a very tumultuous transition at the height of Louisiana versus Calais, which was just decided two days ago, and I recently signed my name to documentation that will be countersuing the state of Louisiana on the decision. During my leadership, I have transformed the branch significantly - we went from 6 executive committee members to 14, and I have increased recruitment by 45%. My work involves many different areas including political advocacy, human development, team development, and organizational leadership. Before my work in civil rights and politics, I spent 8 years in K-12 education, teaching kindergarten, 6th grade, 9th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade, which allowed me to really get into the homes of my students and understand the needs and barriers that were creating challenges for them in education. This experience took me into the public defender's office at one point and ultimately led me into politics and social justice work. I have lived in 7 cities and 3 countries, and in all the communities I've resided in, I've made sure to be in service to the people. This commitment to service was instilled in me by my mother, who is an oncologist at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where I'm originally from. She has served for 45 years and will become a certain age in July, still working hard to offset some of the things in regards to oncology. She instilled service in all her children and has always led by example.