WHM: AG Names Yolanda Melville New Civil Rights Office Director
Yolanda Melville
AC JosepH Media
TRENTON — Former Atlantic City attorney and local NAACP executive officer Yolanda Melville was announced Friday as New Jersey’s new director of the Division of Civil Rights, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Friday, March 7.
With the appointment, Melville becomes the highest-ranking African American in Platkin’s office and only one with status of director. Melville, who was named FRNJ’s 30 Under 40 Top Black Leaders of South Jersey in 2023, will officially take over the position March 19.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve New Jersey as its director of the Division on Civil Rights and thank Governor Murphy and Attorney General Platkin for entrusting me with this responsibility,” Melville said in a statement released by the Attorney General’s office.
“This is an uncertain time for civil rights protections in America, which makes the work of states such as New Jersey more important than ever. Alongside the dedicated public servants in the Division, I look forward to applying our State’s civil rights laws to ensure that no resident faces discrimination in New Jersey.”
Before joining the state’s attorney general’s office in 2023 to become senior counsel and director of community engagement, Melville was a partner at the law firm Cooper Levenson in Atlantic City and involved herself in the community. She served as vice president of the Atlantic City NAACP and head of its legal redress committee.
“Yolanda is a trusted advisor and a deeply committed public servant, and I am grateful for her visionary leadership at this critical time for civil rights in our state,” Platkin said in a statement.
She served as a board member of the Atlantic County Coalition for a Safe Community, board of trustee member of the AtlantiCare Regional Health Services Board along with memberships in SoPro AC, AtlantiCare Young Professionals, New Jersey Builders Association, New Jersey Apartment Association and the Greater Atlantic City Chamber.
Melville served as a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors’ Legal Committee from 2018 to 2023, as a member of the New Jersey NAACP Executive Committee from 2018 to 2023, and as vice president of the Atlantic City NAACP from 2021 to 2022. She was a board member for the Atlantic County Coalition for a Safe Community from 2017 to 2020.
Melville clerked for Judge Susan F. Maven in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. She received her bachelor’s in English and government from the College of William and Mary, master’s in criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University, and law degree. from prestigious Howard University Law School, where she was the managing editor of the Human Rights and Globalization Law Review.
In other announcements, Sundeep Iyer, who had served as director of civil rights for the state, will serve as Acting Executive Assistant Attorney while Angela Cai is on temporary family medical leave and will remain in the OAG in a senior leadership role upon her return.
The attorney general’s office said under Iyer’s leadership, the office expanded its strategic efforts to enforce our state’s civil rights laws, transforming the division into one of the nation’s leading civil rights enforcement agencies.
The Division created its first-ever standalone Affirmative Enforcement Unit to conduct director-initiated investigations into patterns and practices of discrimination. Iyer also expanded the Division’s policy, outreach, and public education efforts to combat discrimination, bias, and hate across New Jersey.
“We welcome Yolanda Melville as the next director of the division,” said John Traier, chair of the New Jersey Commission on Civil Righter, in a statement.
“Director Melville brings a great depth of experience as an attorney and has a deep passion for civil rights, and I look forward to working together with her on the many pressing civil rights challenges facing our state and the Division in the coming year.”
Follow Us Today On:
Note from AC JosepH Media: If you like this story and others posted on Front Runner New Jersey.com, lend us a hand so we can keep producing articles like these for New Jersey and the world to see. Click on SUPPORT FRNJ and make a contribution that will go directly in making more stories like this available. Thank you for reading.
About Author
