University of St. Thomas School of Law Professor Nekima Levy-Pounds is one of the most influential young minority law professors in the country, according to media and research company Lawyers of Color. Levy-Pounds was named to the company’s “50 Under 50” list for 2014, which recognizes law professors of color who are making “bold contributions to the legal canon and the community at large.”
As professor and founding director of the Community Justice Project, the School of Law’s award-winning civil rights legal clinic, Levy-Pounds fosters and inspires up-and-coming lawyers to work to improve the lives of members of under-served communities and youths in the Twin Cities. Challenging laws and policies that hold back communities of color, she has carved her place in the local civil rights movement.
With Levy-Pounds’ vision, the Community Justice Project developed Brotherhood Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that uplifts and empowers young African American males who have had contact with the criminal justice system, are involved in gangs, or are at risk of such involvement. Brotherhood supports these young men through educational programs, social enterprises, work opportunities and case management.
Levy-Pounds is co-chair of Everybody In, chair of the Minnesota Advisory Commission to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, member of the board of directors for Catholic Charities of Minnesota, member of the board of directors for the Minneapolis Foundation, chair of Brotherhood Inc., fellow of the American Bar Foundation, member of the Senate File 2725 Work Group, past adviser to U.S. Sen. Al Franken, member of the FBI Civil Rights Advisory Group, and contributing writer to MinnPost and Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Levy-Pounds will be the keynote speaker for the 19th Annual Cecil E. Newman Scholarship Awards and dinner on Tuesday, May 6, from 7-8:30 pm, at
, 310 E. 38th Street, Minneapolis.
This information was provided by the University of St. Thomas School of Law and the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder newspaper.
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