Cornell William Brooks joins Common Cause National Governing Board

Cornell William Brooks, a lawyer and pastor who has led efforts to socially and economically revitalize urban areas in his home state of New Jersey, has joined Common Cause’s National Governing Board.

Mr. Brooks currently serves of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, a non-partisan, Newark-based research and advocacy organization that works to advance the Garden State’s urban areas and their residents. Under his leadership, the institute recently expanded its work into health care research and workforce development as well as initiatives related to the digital divide in urban areas.

“Cornell Brooks has a stunning breadth of experience as an advocate for the millions of everyday Americans whose voices too often are unheard in our national policy and political debates,” said Bob Edgar, president and CEO of Common Cause. “We’re delighted he has agreed to join our board.”

Mr. Brooks is a former senior counsel at the Federal Communications Commission and a former trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. He also has served as executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington and as trial attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

A graduate of Jackson State University, Mr. Brooks earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Boston University School of Theology, where he focused on social ethics and systematic theology. After seminary, Mr. Brooks earned a law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Member of the Yale Law and Policy Review.