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Leslie Harris

Leslie Harris joined CDT in the fall of 2005 and became Executive Director at the beginning of 2006. Ms. Harris brings over two decades of experience to CDT as a civil liberties lawyer, lobbyist, and public policy strategist Her areas of expertise include free expression, privacy and intellectual property. Prior to joining CDT, Ms. Harris was founder and President of Leslie Harris & Associates ("LHA"), a public interest public policy and strategic services firm which represented both corporate and non-profit clients before Congress and the Executive Branch on a broad range of Internet and technology related issues including intellectual property, online privacy, telecommunications, and spectrum. During that time, she was involved in the enactment of many landmark pieces of legislation including the landmark "E-Rate" amendment to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") and the 2002 Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act, (TEACH) which updated copyright law for digital distance learning.

While at the firm, Ms. Harris also organized and managed many public policy coalitions and issue campaigns which brought companies and nonprofit stakeholders around common interests. Among other projects, she organized the No-gatekeepers campaign in 1998 to advocate for open access to cable broadband and helped build and direct the Web Now Coalition in 2001 to advocate for preservation of the educational (ITFS) spectrum. Most recently, on behalf of CDT, she organized a broad bipartisan set of stakeholders to advocate against broad application of the campaign finance laws to Internet advocacy.

Prior to establishing Leslie Harris & Associates, Ms. Harris served in senior positions in two prominent civil liberties organizations. She was the Director of Public Policy for People for the American Way, ("PFAW") where she managed the organization's legislative and government relations program and served as a national spokesperson. At PFAW, she was also a leader in the campaign against the Communications Decency Act and for the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ("FACE"). Before that, she served in a number of legal and policy positions for the American Civil Liberties Union, including Chief Legislative Counsel for the Washington National Office, succeeding Jerry Berman in this position.

Before joining the ACLU, she was in private law practice in Washington and served in city and state government in Atlanta.

Ms. Harris is a recognized expert on Internet and technology policy, and she writes and speaks frequently on these subjects. Ms. Harris has served in leadership positions in the American Bar Association, including as the Chairperson of the Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. For many years, she served as the Co-Chair of the CDT Public Interest Advisory. She currently serves on the Board of the Health Privacy Project.

Ms. Harris received her law degree cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center and her BA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Appearances

Biography last updated September 8, 2006