Bio
Dana Vickers Shelley is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland. A strategic communications and political advocacy leader, Dana has guided the organization through a period of transformational growth by centering racial justice in its advocacy, litigation, organizing, and policy agenda.
During her eight years leading the ACLU of Maryland, the organization launched its first strategic plan and is now preparing to implement its second, building on a vision that advances justice and democracy. Under Dana’s leadership, the ACLU of Maryland has secured landmark legislative and legal victories, including passage of the Maryland Voting Rights Act, Anton’s Law, which opened police disciplinary and misconduct records to public access following the killing of Anton Black, the Second Look Act, which expanded opportunities for sentence reductions, and the statewide end of the federal 287(g) program that enlisted local law enforcement in federal immigration efforts.
She leads a 25-person team of attorneys, organizers, advocates, communicators, and policy strategists who are working with communities in every region of the state to empower Marylanders to exercise their rights so the law values and uplifts their humanity.
Before ACLU, Dana designed and led public affairs initiatives for Annie E. Casey Foundation, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Black Enterprise Magazine. She also advised numerous national and local organizations, including the Democratic National Convention Committee, NAACP, and Nike. She developed national partnerships with Black, Indigenous, and Latinx journalist organizations to raise awareness of structural racism and disparities in family regulation systems. Her public affairs background includes senior leadership positions with Edelman, Fenton, and in the Clinton Administration.
Dana earned a Master of Public Administration degree from American University's Key Executive Leadership Program, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She previously served on the faculty of Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication.
