Barbara Arnwine

Civil Rights Attorney Former President & Executive Director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Barbara R. Arnwine, president & executive director of the national Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) since 1989, is internationally renowned for contributions on critical justice issues including the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the 2006 reauthorization of provisions of the Voting Rights Act. She also created the legendary Voting Rights “Map of Shame” in 2011, which remains popular. A graduate of Scripps College and Duke University School of Law, she continues to champion civil rights and racial justice issues nationally and internationally in the areas of housing and lending, community development, employment, voting, education, and environmental justice. Ms. Arnwine’s work also includes women’s rights, immigrant rights, judicial diversity, criminal justice reform, racial profiling, health care disparities and LGBTQ rights. 

She is a well-known leader of Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition. Ms. Arnwine has received numerous awards including the prestigious Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion along with Co-Honoree Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Gruber International Justice Prize. She is a frequent conference orator and has penned numerous articles and is regularly quoted and featured by national and local media outlets.

Ms. Arnwine launched “Igniting Change with Barbara Arnwine” in March 2015 on Radio One’s WOL 1450 AM. The hour-long show, which airs on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST, provides provocative and empowering information and discussion designed to ignite change and inspire action in achieving racial justice, social justice and equality.