Fall 2022 Speaker

Sophia A. Nelson, Esq.
Award-Winning Author and Journalist

Sophia A. Nelson, Esq. is an award-winning author and journalist. She is a national columnist for several major media outlets including, The Washington Post, CNN Opinion and USA TODAY, while serving as a contributing editor to TheGrio. Nelson can be seen regularly on CNN, MSNBC, and PBS as a legal and political analyst. She has also been featured on other national programs such as “Morning Joe” and “Today.”

Nelson has served as an adjunct professor in Virginia and as a scholar, lecturer, and panelist at higher education institutions such as Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Philander Smith College, and Southern University, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Medical School, Butler University and DePauw University. Nelson is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author in letters, as well as an award-winning corporate diversity and inclusion trainer.

A retired attorney, Nelson is admitted to the prestigious bar of the United States Supreme Court. She was the first Black woman to serve as investigative counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Majority staff for the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight in 1997. She is also a former senior lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and former senior counsel with the international law firm of Holland & Knight LLP.

Nelson received a juris doctor degree from American University Washington College of Law in 1994 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from San Diego State University in 1990. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Nelson, a renowned international inspirational speaker, is the author of four nonfiction books, “Black Woman Redefined,” “The Woman Code,” “ePluribus One” and “Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned While Taking Care of Everyone but Me.”