MAYA WILEY

Maya Wiley is a civil rights attorney, activist, and legal analyst with extensive experience in both public service and advocacy work.

Born in Syracuse, NY, and raised in Washington, DC, she comes from a family of civil rights activists who were also at the forefront of the economic justice movement. Her father, a chemist and academic, was a leader in the civil rights movement and inspired Maya to follow suit.

Her upbringing inspired her to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Dartmouth College. With the intention of becoming a civil rights lawyer and racial justice advocate, she headed to New York City, where she received her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. She has spent over 30 years working for social justice in New York City. Early in her career, she litigated for the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund and founded her own nonprofit policy advocacy organization, The Center for Social Inclusion, where she worked to address racial equity and structural racism in policy-making.

Throughout her career, Wiley has demonstrated a remarkable ability to bring together diverse groups around shared goals of equity and justice. At The Center for Social Inclusion, she worked with organizations across sectors—from housing advocates to education reformers to healthcare providers—showing how structural racism affects multiple systems simultaneously. By creating frameworks that helped these groups understand their interconnected struggles, she built powerful coalitions that could advocate for comprehensive policy changes rather than isolated reforms. Her approach emphasized that racial justice work requires collaboration across traditional boundaries, bringing together grassroots organizers, policy experts, and community members who are directly impacted by inequitable systems.

Wiley's commitment to expanding opportunities for communities of color has been evident in every role she has undertaken. As counsel to former New York Mayor de Blasio, she championed broadband access as a civil rights issue, recognizing that digital connectivity had become essential for education, employment, and civic participation. She understood that without intentional intervention, technological advancement would deepen existing inequalities rather than bridge them.

Similarly, during her tenure at The New School, she worked to ensure that academic institutions served as engines of opportunity for marginalized communities, pushing for programs that would prepare students of color for leadership roles in social justice movements. Her work consistently reflects the principle that creating pathways to opportunity requires both dismantling barriers and actively building new structures that support communities that have been historically excluded.

Maya also served as Senior Vice President for Social Justice at The New School and was the chairwoman of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, which oversees police conduct.
A mother of two, Maya relates how every step on her path has always been about creating more coalitions and building more opportunities for communities of color, with the understanding that a rising tide lifts all boats.

In 2021, Wiley ran for mayor of New York City, campaigning on a progressive platform that emphasized police reform, affordable housing, and economic justice. While she didn't win the Democratic primary, her campaign helped elevate important discussions about racial and economic inequality in the city.