Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the RWU School of Law, Office of Diversity & Outreach Presents...
Keynote Speaker: Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies, Esq. L'07
Learn more about the speaker here: Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies is the Executive Director of the Economic Progress Institute, an organization committed to transformational and equitable budget and policy changes in Rhode Island through research, analysis, education, and advocacy toward the goals of racial and economic justice. She was previously the managing attorney of Community Legal Aid’s (CLA) Worcester County offices, where she supervised several special projects including the Asian Outreach Project, the Medical-Legal Partnership pro bono project, the CORI/Reentry Project, and the Veterans Legal Assistance Project. She also co-chaired CLA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She started her legal aid career over 15 years ago as a Bart Gordon Fellow at South Coastal Counties Legal Services focusing on the cumulative effects of structural racism on communities of color. She specializes in general poverty law, medical-legal partnerships, public benefits, and housing law.
She has served as a small group faculty and capstone project mentor of the Patient Care in Complex Systems Gateway Program at Brown University Medical School and taught a civic engagement law-based course as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Rhode Island. She was named one of GoLocal Prov 22 to Watch in Rhode Island in 2022. She has also received several recognitions for her social justice advocacy work including the 2023 Rhode Island Black Business Association’s Christiana Bannister Civic Leadership Award, 2020 Roger Williams University School of Law Alumni Public Interest Champion of Justice Award and the 2017 Massachusetts Bar Association Access to Justice Rising Star Award. She is a proud alumna of the Rhode Island Foundation’s inaugural Equity Leadership Initiative, the Institute of Nonprofit Practice’s inaugural Black Leadership Institute, Leadership Worcester, the Shriver Center’s Racial Justice Institute, and City Year Rhode Island. She received her Juris Doctorate from Roger Williams University School of Law and undergraduate from Rhode Island College.
Reception immediately following the lecture.
Special Accommodations
Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the School of Law Office of Diversity & Outreach, as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. soldiversity&outreach@rwu.edu.