COLUMBUS –The ACLU of Ohio welcomes C. Raphael Davis-Williams as its new Director of Equity and Inclusion. A graduate of OSU’s Moritz College of Law, Davis-Williams has been a civil rights attorney in Columbus, Ohio, for nearly a decade, focusing on employment law, fair housing, and police misconduct. A former television news reporter in Texas, Alabama, and Florida, he is also a former board president of the Kaleidoscope Youth Center in Columbus and a cooperating attorney with the Central Ohio Fair Housing Association.

Davis-Williams recently completed nine years of service on the ACLU of Ohio Board of Directors.

“Raphael brings a lifelong demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion work, both professionally and personally, as well as a deep passion for and knowledge of the ACLU’s mission,” said J. Bennett Guess, the ACLU of Ohio’s Executive Director. “As the ACLU of Ohio’s first Equity and Inclusion Director, Raphael’s work will be both inward and outward facing, as we strive to strengthen every aspect of our organization – our programs, our culture, and our advocacy – through an explicit racial justice lens.”

As a senior staff member and advisor to the Executive Director, Davis-Williams will lead in devising, implementing and managing policies, practices, programs, and organizational behaviors that foster diversity, equity and authentic inclusion within the ACLU of Ohio, and position the organization internally and externally for greater engagement and impact with diverse communities.

“Confronting the disparity that marginalized individuals live with daily, sustaining an organizational culture truly grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion, and ensuring that racial justice remains at the center of the ACLU of Ohio’s civil liberties agenda is the work I am called to do for an organization I love and fervently believe in,” Davis-Williams said.

Davis-Williams will be working in the ACLU of Ohio’s Columbus office.

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