Stacey Abrams ’99 to Receive CLEO EDGE Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Heritage Award

Political leader Stacey Abrams ’99 will be recognized for her lifetime achievements during the CLEO EDGE Virtual Honors reception on November 12, 2020. Candidate for Governor of Georgia, Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, and Founder of the Fair Fight Action, a national voting rights organization, Abrams will receive the CLEO EDGE Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Heritage Award. The Award honors a person who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in Education, Diversity, and Greater Equality in the legal profession and society.

An attorney, New York Times bestselling author of Our Time is Now and Lead from the Outside, and serial entrepreneur, Abrams became the 2018 Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, where she won more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s history.

Over the course of her career, she has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues. Dedicated to civic engagement, her most recent endeavors include: launching Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system, Fair Count to ensure accuracy in the 2020 Census and greater participation in civic engagement, and the Southern Economic Advancement Project, a public policy initiative to broaden economic power and build equity in the South.

She serves on the Board of Advisors for Climate Power 2020, the Center for American Progress, and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi and were reared in Georgia.

Abrams says, “Thank you to The Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. for this incredible honor and for working to expand opportunities for young people of color and low-income students interested in the legal profession. As our nation seeks to address some of the major challenges of our time such as voter suppression, environmental justice and police accountability, we need dedicated servants on the frontlines who are committed to ensuring justice for all.”