NCLEJ Hires Jason D. Williamson as Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 14, 2025
Contact: Patrick Fowler, Communications Strategist, NCLEJ | fowler@nclej.org.
NEW YORK, NY: The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) is excited to announce the hiring of Jason D. Williamson as Executive Director. Mr. Williamson will assume leadership on August 25 following the retirement of outgoing Executive Director Dennis Parker.
Mr. Williamson will bring extensive executive and legal experience to the position. He currently serves as Executive Director at the Center on Race, Inequality, and Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to NYU Law, he spent more than 10 years as a staff attorney and deputy director with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project and served at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Mr. Williamson began his legal career in New Orleans in the months following Hurricane Katrina, first as a staff attorney for the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, and later as a founding member of the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (f.k.a. Juvenile Regional Services).
“I am tremendously excited to join this exceptional and storied organization,” said Mr. Williamson. “At a time when the rule of law is under assault and the federal government is being weaponized against the most vulnerable among us – particularly low-income people and communities of color – the work of NCLEJ is more important than ever in its 60-year history. The Center’s unique focus at the nexus of racial, economic and disability justice makes us well-positioned to answer the urgency of this historic moment, and I am looking forward to leading our incredible team into the next chapter.”
“When I first heard the news that Jason Williamson was tapped to lead NCLEJ, I was thrilled,” said Dennis Parker, outgoing Executive Director. “I know Jason well – he is a tireless advocate, passionate soul, and exceptional lawyer who will undoubtedly lead our organization to new heights. We could not have asked for a better, more eminently qualified figure to steer the ship in these turbulent times and continue our efforts to deliver legal victories for the communities we serve.”
NCLEJ partnered with Sandler Search to recruit the organization’s next Executive Director.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice is a legal nonprofit organization that advances racial and economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. Founded in 1965, NCLEJ fights to protect access to critical benefits like food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare, protect low-wage workers’ rights and safety, advocates for the rights of people with disabilities, and fights unlawful debt collection.
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