Taylor A. Dumpson, Esq. 

Taylor Dumpson is a nationally recognized anti-hate advocate and attorney with a background in education law, criminal justice, hate crimes, and civil litigation. Dumpson earned her B.A. in Law and Society with a concentration in Social Science from American University and her J.D. with a concentration in Rights and the State from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Dumpson was deemed a "Uniter" by President Biden during the White House's United We Stand Summit on hate-filled violence in 2022, for her work combatting hate and sharing her experience as a hate crimes survivor.

Following her inauguration as the first Black woman to be elected student government president at American University, Taylor became the target of a racially- and gender- motivated hate crime and cyber-harassment in May 2017. Nevertheless, she  fought back by pursuing litigation against the self-identified Neo-Nazis and white supremacists who attacked her online. In addition to receiving a favorable judgement in Dumpson v. Ade (2019), Taylor also reached a landmark settlement with one of the defendants based on principles of restorative justice. This unique settlement serves as an example of taking a survivor-centered approach to de-radicalize folks engaged in extremism and to build resilient communities.

Dumpson began her legal career at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she served as the 2021 President’s Fellow, working in the James Byrd Jr. Center to Stop Hate and the Educational Opportunities Project, and eventually Associate Counsel working on various high-profile cases, including Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and legal challenges to organized white supremacist groups. Dumpson currently serves as Special Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. Dumpson is barred in the State of Rhode Island, the State of New York, the District of Columbia and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York .

In her work, both personally and professionally, Taylor has worked with victims and survivors who have been targeted by hate, as well as with leading forces in the field, including the United States Department of Justice: Civil Rights Division, United States Department of State, National Association for Attorneys General, Southern Poverty Law Center, Anti-Defamation League, and the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity.

Dumpson has shared her personal experience with countless  audiences, and in various medium, including print and visual media formats, through her work writing, public speaking, providing congressional testimony, participating in documentary film, working with tech leaders, and engaging with youth.  Dumpson has also  been interviewed by major news outlets like CNN, MSNBC, NPR, New York Times, and the Washington Post. Her story, along with the stories of several other hate crime survivors, was published in American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, edited by Arjun Sethi, and was featured in 15 Minutes of Shame (HBO Max 2021).