The Southern Poverty Law Center announced on Tuesday that it had hired Ryan P. Haygood as the organization’s next president and CEO.
Haygood is a civil rights attorney who currently serves as CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, a racial justice organization based in Newark.
“At this defining moment, when our country desperately needs both the courage to resist and the vision to construct what has never existed before, the SPLC board is proud and grateful to welcome Ryan to the helm,” said Karen Baynes-Dunning, chair of the board for SPLC. “Ryan has the leadership skills, the heart, and most importantly, the vision to lead the SPLC during trying times for the country and for the organization itself.
Haygood said in a statement that he was inspired by the historical figures of the Civil Rights Movement.
“We are summoned now, like those brave freedom fighters before us, to both fight the assaults on our democracy and build what must come next,” the statement said. ”The SPLC has the history, strength and team to do just that, and was built precisely for moments like this.”
Haygood will replace Bryan Fair, the interim president and CEO, in August. Fair assumed the position one year ago after Margaret Huang resigned a year ago, citing family responsibilities.
The leadership change comes as SPLC is fighting an11-count indictment against the organization alleging that a program run by SPLC that used paid informants within racist and extremist groups to disrupt those organizations served as financial support for them. The organization is charged with wire fraud, making false statements and money laundering.
The SPLC has denied the charges and legal experts have questioned the validity of the case.
Fair pleaded not guilty to the charges at the arraignment in May and a magistrate scheduled the trial to begin in October. Attorneys for SPLC have filed a motion to have the case dismissed, alleging vindictive prosecution.
This story was originally produced by Alabama Reflector, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Florida Phoenix, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
