The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) recently announced the addition
of Florida A&M University alumna Melanie Roussell Newman to its senior
management team. She will serve as Chief Public Engagement and Communications
Strategist.
“Ms. Newman will oversee a critical expansion of our
communications department and will be responsible for shaping messaging
strategy across all LDF practice areas as well as developing public relations
on behalf of the Thurgood Marshall Institute,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, president
and director-counsel of LDF.
Prior to LDF, Newman held several positions in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Administration, most recently serving as Director of the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she led the Department’s communications team and oversaw messaging and public engagement strategy for Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
During her tenure at DOJ, Newman managed communications
across all litigating, policy, and operational divisions of the Department. She
also advised the Attorney General on crisis communications and emergency
response, including the response to the Mother Emmanuel-Charleston massacre and
the Dylann Roof trial, the civil rights investigations of the Baltimore and
Chicago police departments, the Department’s lawsuit against North Carolina for
its discriminatory HB-2 legislation, and the terrorist attacks in Paris,
Brussels, San Bernardino (CA), and Orlando (FL).
Prior to joining the Justice Department, Newman served as
Associate Director of Communications and Strategic Planning at the White House
Office of Management and Budget and Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her experience also
includes stints as the National Press Secretary at the Democratic National
Committee and Communications Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee
on the Judiciary.
Newman will be based out of LDF’s Washington, D.C. office.