Melissa S. Woods

Melissa S. Wood is a lawyer at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the civil rights law firm founded by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.  Since joining LDF in 1999, she has been litigating at the trial and appellate levels in the areas of  employment discrimination, and desegregation and affirmative action in higher education – including the University of Michigan affirmative action case Gratz v. Bollinger.  Prior to her work at LDF, Melissa worked on the issues of race and police brutality at the New York Civil Liberties Union.  While at Wesleyan, Melissa was a resident advisor, played on the water polo team, sang in the gospel choir, tutored Middletown children, and interviewed perspective students.