Dr. Murray began her career at Villanova University in 2010 after completing her doctorate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Originally from South Carolina, Dr. Murray’s research seeks to advance understandings about the relationships between public space, the rhetoric of social protest, and violence/nonviolence in social change. Her activist work has focused on human rights, peace organizations, the Occupy movement, and combating hate speech. Her most recent book length project, Combating Hate: A Framework for Direct Action is available from Penn State University Press, and explores public responses to hate speech in various communities.

Lu-in Wang serves as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarship examines ordinary and extraordinary forms of discrimination and the connections between them. Her recent work explores the legal implications of economic and social stereotypes in the service industry, particularly with respect to discrimination in employment and against customers. An earlier book, Discrimination By Default: How Racism Becomes Routine (New York University Press 2006), draws on social psychology to detail three commonplace but generally unrecognized ways in which unconscious assumptions lead to discrimination in a wide range of everyday settings and how these dynamics interact to produce an invisible, self-fulfilling, and self-perpetuating prophecy of racial disparity. Wang also has written on more extreme forms of discrimination. In addition to being the author of Hate Crimes Law (West 1994), the first legal treatise on that subject, she has published several articles that apply insights from historical, sociological, and social psychological literature to illuminate the legal issues related to bias-motivated violence. Wang’s articles have appeared in journals including the Southern California Law Review, the Ohio State Law Journal, the Boston University Law Review, the Lewis & Clark Law Review, the Michigan Journal of Race and Law, the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, and the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. Wang served as Pitt Law’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2006 to 2011. She has received the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and has twice received the Student Bar Association’s Excellence in Teaching Award. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Wang has also served as a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico School of Law. Before she began teaching, Wang practiced with firms in Chicago, Illinois, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. She also served as a staff attorney for The Center for Social Gerontology, a national support center on law and aging, and as a law clerk for the late Justice Ralph J. Cappy of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Laura Ellsworth is Jones Day’s first Partner-in-Charge of Global Community Service Initiatives, spearheading the Firm’s rule of law initiatives around the world. In her litigation practice she has handled landmark public nuisance cases, multijurisdictional product liability matters, the largest health care bankruptcy of its time, and nationwide qui tam cases. She served on the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and in 2013-2014 was co-chair of the Federal Judicial Selection Committee for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Laura has been active in civic and community affairs, serving in leadership roles on the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, and the United Way Women’s Leadership Council. Governor Rendell named her one of Pennsylvania’s Top Businesswomen, and Governor Corbett appointed her to serve on the boards of the Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education, Pennsylvania Council on Privatization and Innovation, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has served on public company and civic/charitable boards, including FNB Corporation, Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation, lmani Christian Academy, Heinz History Center, Waynesburg University, McCune Foundation, and University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics. Laura has taught law classes in inner­ city schools and conducted Lawyers Without Borders programs in Nairobi, Kenya. She is a founder and Co-Chair of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, the largest multi-disciplinary gathering of anti-hate experts in the world. Laura’s civic contributions have been recognized in numerous awards including the 2013 ATHENA Award, 2014 Pennsylvania Diversity Council’s Most Powerful & Influential Women Award, the 2016 legal Intelligencer’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and a 2017 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America.

Taylor A. Dumpson, J.D. is Associate Counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Ms. Dumpson was born in Washington, D.C., and raised on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. After graduating from Wicomico High School, she received her B.A. in Law and Society with a concentration in Social Science from American University and her J.D. with a concentration in Rights and the State from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. In Spring 2017, while pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree at American University in the Nation’s Capital, Ms. Dumpson became the first Black woman to serve as president of the Student Government in the University’s 124-year history. In the wake of her ground-breaking election, she was the target of a racially-motivated hate crime on her first day in office, followed by cyber-harassment by members of white supremacist groups. However, Ms. Dumpson did not allow these acts to deter her from her goal of becoming a civil rights attorney, nor did she let it break her. Instead, Ms. Dumpson fought back by pursuing litigation against the Neo-Nazis who cyber-harassed her. And she won. Not only did Ms. Dumpson reach a landmark settlement—based on principles of restorative justice—with one of the defendants in her case, she also received a favorable judgment from Judge Collyer of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Court. Judge Collyer found “that a [causal] nexus exists between the troll storm created [one of the defendants] and Ms. Dumpson’s enjoyment of [American University] and its resources and that Ms. Dumpson was targeted because of her race and gender.” This is one of the first times that a Court has held that online harassment can interfere with one’s use of a public accommodation. Ms. Dumpson continues to raise awareness on the impact hate and discrimination have on our communities and ways to actively combat them. Ms. Dumpson has shared this message by testifying before Congress and giving a TEDx Talk, and in interviews with various print, television, and radio broadcast media such as CNN, NBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, WTOP, and WAMU. Ms. Dumpson has interned with the New York Civil Liberties Union (New York, NY), NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (New York, NY), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Stop Hate Project (Washington, DC), Capitol Hill Office of Congresswoman Fredericka S. Wilson (D-FL) (Washington, D.C.), Wicomico County Office of the State’s Attorney (Salisbury, MD), and the District Office of Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes of Maryland’s District 37-A (Salisbury, MD). Ms. Dumpson’s personal story is featured along with the narratives of other survivors of hate crimes in a book edited by Arjun Singh Sethi, called “American Hate: Survivors Speak Out.” In addition, Ms. Dumpson is the recipient of the Lawyers’ Committee’s 2018 Frank R. Parker Client Award, the 2019 National Emerging Leader Award, American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity, a 2019 Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy Summer Fellow, the 2019 Digital Ethics Award, Loyola University Chicago, the 2019 Kay Family Award, Anti-Defamation League, the 2021 Cardozo Center for Public Service Law Student Impact! Gamechanger Award, and the 2021 Cardozo School of Law E. Nathaniel Gates Award.

Angela L. Velez is a
senior associate at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP
and is a member of the Employment and Labor Practice Group. She has over 10
years of experience with the New Jersey Department of Education and New
Jersey Office of the Attorney General. As a Deputy Attorney General, Ms.
Velez represented the Department of Education and State universities in
complex legal matters in federal and state administrative, trial, and
appellate court spanning state and federal education and civil rights laws.
In addition to education law, her work included defending federal and state
claims of employment discrimination and investigating and pursuing charges of
professional misconduct against school professionals and campus police. Ms.
Velez was also counsel to a State university on employment, contracting, and
institutional liability, and to the Department on the Interdistrict School
Choice Program and the New Jersey Open Public Records Act. At the Department
of Education, Ms. Velez worked in the Division of Finance and Business
Services, where she was responsible for all legal and regulatory matters
involving the distribution of state aid and school business operations.
Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, she was the primary liaison between
the Division and the Attorney General’s Office, providing guidance and
expertise on ongoing litigation. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,
she served on a four-person team responsible for overseeing the Department’s
response to the public health emergency, which included providing guidance on
the Governor’s Executive Orders and implementing the CARES Act, CRRSA Act,
and ARP Act. Most recently, she directed the Office of State Monitors, who
oversee business and personnel decisions at school districts in fiscal
distress and implemented the $500 million Securing Our Children’s Future Bond
Act which funds school security, water infrastructure, and career and
technical education improvements. Ms. Velez is a graduate of The
University of North Carolina School of Law, where she was a member of senior
staff on the North Carolina Journal of International Law, an officer in the
Disability Law Organization, and worked with local non-profits in the
Community Development Law Clinic.

Mr. Corbett Anderson is Chief of the Civil Rights Enforcement Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The Section seeks to protect and advance the civil rights of Pennsylvanians. Before joining the PA Office of Attorney General, Corbett spent nineteen years at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in various supervisory, policy, and litigation positions. His career began in private practice as an associate in the labor and employment section of the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll, in Pittsburgh, PA. Corbett is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (B.S.), Howard University School of Law (J.D.), and the Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M., labor and employment law).

Mr. Silberblatt is a partner with the Pittsburgh law firm of Silberblatt Mermelstein, P.C. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Allegheny College in 1977 and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1980 where he served on the Law Review. He is Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Advocate. Mr. Silberblatt concentrates his practice in civil litigation with a particular emphasis on lawyers’ professional liability matters. He currently serves as the 128th President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.  He has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Allegheny County Bar Association.  He is a Fellow of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and has served on its  Board of Governors. Mr. Silberblatt has served as Chair of both the Civil Litigation Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Civil Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and he has served on the as a Director of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. He served as the Zone 12 Governor of the PBA from 2015 to 2018 and is a member of the PBA House of Delegates. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the PBA Lawyers Professional Liability Committee, a current member of council of the PBA Minority Bar Committee, a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board, and a Hearing Committee Member for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He received a PBA Special Achievement Award in 2000 for his work in planning the PBA Civil Litigation Section’s Retreat, the PBA President’s Award in 2002 for his efforts with Senate Bill 406 and Rule 1023.1 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, and a PBA Special Achievement Award in 2004 for his work in planning and presenting malpractice avoidance programs for the Professional Liability Committee. A third generation Pennsylvania lawyer, he is the author of numerous legal articles that have appeared in The Barrister, The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, The Pennsylvania Law Weekly, The Pennsylvania Lawyer, The Pittsburgh Legal Journal, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pennsylvania Family Lawyer, The Advocate, and Trial. Mr. Silberblatt has lectured for the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company.

Ms. Giampolo is one
of the Philadelphia region’s most accomplished young attorneys, innovative
entrepreneurs, and dedicated community leaders. In 2008, she formed Giampolo
Law Group (GLG), a boutique international law firm dedicated to identifying
and fulfilling a broad range of legal and business needs for its clients. Her
legal expertise spans a wide variety of practice areas, including Corporate
Law, Real Estate, International Law (Asia and Africa), Civil Rights, LGBTQ
Law, and Estate Planning. She is the owner and founder of Philadelphia’s most
popular LGBT law blog and resource directory, www.phillygaylawyer.com. She is
a frequent presenter at the National Business Institute, and a legal
columnist for the Philadelphia Business Journal, The Philadelphia Gay News,
Echelon Magazine, and Edge Media. She is also on the board of many local,
statewide, and national non-profit organizations, including the Victory Fund,
Equality Forum, International Visitors Council, and she serves as President
of Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia (GALLOP). Prior to starting GLG,
Ms. Giampolo cut her teeth at a franchise boutique law firm, specializing
with clients focused on expanding internationally. She also worked in
government at the Office of General Counsel in Harrisburg, mainly with the
Corporations Bureau and the Election Law Division, as well as with the United
Nations at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in prosecuting
those responsible for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. She is barred in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey, with licensure
pending in the District of Columbia. She is also credentialed by the Court of
Appeals for Veteran Claims and is certified in mediation and advocacy from
Good Shepherd Mediation Center. She is a member of the American Bar
Association, the International Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar
Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers
of Philadelphia. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from Temple
University’s Beasley School of Law. While there, she completed joint JD/MBA
coursework at Temple’s prestigious Fox School of Business. Prior to
graduating, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Rubin Public Interest
Society. She also holds a Certificate of Law in Chinese Law from Tsinghua
University in Beijing, China. She received a dual Bachelor of Arts in
Political Science and Psychology, with a Minor in Women’s Studies and
International Relations from La Salle University.

Prof. Lee is a Professor of Law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School, where he teaches Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility and Torts. He was selected Widener’s Outstanding Law Professor by the graduating class of 1995 and received Widener Law School’s inaugural Outstanding Teacher award as selected by the alumni in 1999. Prof. Lee’s ABA moot court teams advanced to Nationals three times in four years, and his 1993 team was recognized for the third best brief in the nation. He served as the chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Professional Responsibility and coordinates an annual conference between the deans of students of Pennsylvania’s law schools and Pennsylvania Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers. A leading advocate for the rights of people who are deaf or hard of hearing, Prof. Lee worked on the first case to guarantee people who are deaf the right to serve as jurors and also worked with the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health to guarantee people who are deaf, deaf and blind or hard of hearing equal and effective access to mental health services. He is a former coach of blind and deaf wrestlers and coached two first team Deaf All-Americans and one East Coast Blind Conference champion. Prof. Lee has consulted on various issues with judicial and executive agencies in five states as well as with the Hearing Loss Association of America, the National Association for the Deaf, the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association, NorCal Center for Law and the Deaf, and the National Center for Law and the Deaf. He has published over 40 law-related articles and is working on a book with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Coles. Prof. Lee has spoken on everything from God to fatherhood and Charles Dickens to Bruce Springsteen and has been an invited participant at conferences at a number of institutions, including Boston College, Duke, Fordham, Gallaudet University, New York University, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pepperdine, Villanova and the Wharton School of Business. He has also spoken at programs sponsored by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth, Common Pleas and Superior Courts and is a frequent presenter on ethics topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

Mr. Berry is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Ballard Spahr LLP, where he represents news, entertainment, and other media clients in defamation and privacy suits, accessing government and court records, defending reporters who are subpoenaed, and advising clients on newsgathering and other First Amendment matters. He has litigated cases for media clients in jurisdictions around the country, from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York to Florida, California, and the Virgin Islands. In recent years, Mr. Berry served as trial counsel for prominent newspapers and websites, defeated an effort to subpoena reporters’ sources as part of an inquiry into alleged grand jury leaks, and succeeded in unsealing records in high-profile criminal prosecutions and high-stakes corporate litigation. He currently serves on the board of the Media Law Resource Center Institute and serves as co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Bar-Press Committee. Mr. Berry is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Emory University and holds a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. He attended the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he graduated with highest honors and served as Editor in Chief of the North Carolina Law Review. Previously, Mr. Berry worked on Capitol Hill for the late Senator Paul D. Coverdell, R-Ga., and as a law clerk to the Honorable David B. Sentelle on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.