LAS VEGAS, Nevada –Lorraine C. Miller, a National Board member was named interim president/CEO of the NAACP and a search for a permanent head of the 104-year-old civil rights organization has been launched. NAACP Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock made the announcement during the group’s meeting in Las Vegas last weekend.
A search committee to select a replacement for outgoing NAACP chief Benjamin Jealous will be chaired by the Rev. Theresa Dear, of Bartlett, Ill., with Lamell McMorris, of Washington, D.C., as co-chairman. They are both members of the NAACP National Board.
“This is a moment of great change and great opportunity for the NAACP,” Brock said. “We are excited to work with Lorraine C. Miller during this time of transition. We are confident that Lorraine will serve the association with a steady and experienced hand as we continue the search for the next president/CEO.”
Miller will begin her role and assume day-to-day responsibility for the association on Nov. 1, according to the transition plan approved by the National Board of Directors. Jealous’ tenure with the Association will end officially on Dec. 31.
Miller said she was looking forward “to continuing the path forged” by Brock and Jealous. “These are important times and the important work of the NAACP will go on,” she said.
Jealous welcomed Miller’s interim appointment, describing her as “a natural fit.”
“She comes into this position with two decades of experience working for the U.S. House of Representatives and an even longer career in civil rights advocacy and policy. She will have the honor of leading the dynamic staff of this great organization,” he said.
Miller is a commercial real estate broker with Keller Williams and sits on the Board of D.C. Vote. She served as the first African-American clerk and the first African-American officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, from 2007-11. She previously worked for then House Speakers Nancy Pelosi, Tom Foley and Jim Wright, as well as U.S. Rep. John Lewis. She also worked in the Clinton White House, as bureau chief at the Federal Communications Commission and as director of Congressional Relations for the Federal Trade Commission. Additionally, she worked at the American Federation of Teachers.
In the NAACP, Miller served as president of the Washington, D.C., branch for six years and has been a member of the National Board of Directors since 2008, where she serves as a member of the Executive Committee and as chairwoman of the Advocacy and Policy Committee.
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