Dawn L. Smalls, JD ‘03

Board Member

Dawn L. Smalls is an accomplished leader with experience in law, politics, government and philanthropy. She currently serves a partner in Jenner & Block’s New York office, where she is a member of the firm’s Monitorship and Cultural Risk and Sensitive Investigation Practices, and serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Smalls has previously served as an independent monitor of a tier-one global financial institution, having been appointed to that role by the NYS Department of Financial Services, and is one of the few women to be awarded a monitorship of that size.  Smalls is also a high-stakes litigator, successfully securing two TROs, one against the Trump Campaign and one in 2021 against the City of New York. Previous representations include serving as co-lead counsel for one of the largest Fair Labor Standards Act class actions on record, representing more than 90,000 au pairs for wage fixing and violations of federal, state and minimum wage.

This year, Smalls was named a “Notable Black Leader” by Crain’s New York Business.  In 2021, Smalls was named to the inaugural edition of “Northeast Trailblazers” by the American Lawyer, and recognized by Crain’s New York Business as a “Notable Women in Law” , the National Black Lawyers as one of their Top 100 lawyers, and the Legal 500 in Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense.  Smalls was also honored in 2021 by the Legal Aid Society with its Pro Bono Publico Award. Smalls was featured as a “Power Player” in government and politics by City & State New York and the Amsterdam News in 2020.

Smalls’ knowledge of the intersection of law and politics comes from serving, first, in the Clinton Administration as assistant to the White House Chief of Staff and as a liaison on policy and budget issues for the District of Columbia, and the Chief Regulatory Officer at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama Administration. In the 2008 election cycle, Dawn served as a regional political director for the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, covering six states, and in the general election as the New York political director for then-Sen. Barack Obama.

In addition to her private practice, Smalls is a recognized civic leader. She serves on the board of the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank and campus network that serves as the non-profit partner to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. She also serves on the Board of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, a non-profit farm and educational center whose mission is to shape an ecological food culture that centers farmers and their stewardship of the land to amplify their success. From 2015 – 2021, Smalls served on the national Board of the American Constitution Society, the nation’s leading progressive legal organization with more than 200 student and lawyer chapters in almost every state and on most law school campuses.

As a commissioner of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Smalls provided oversight to the state agency tasked with ensuring that state elected officials and lobbyists comply with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. Previously, Ms. Smalls served as the Secretary of the New York City Bar’s Ethics Committee.

Ms. Smalls also worked for the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, two of the largest philanthropies in the world, managing approximately $40 million of grants promoting and increasing civic engagement, political reform, and grassroots activism.

In 2019, Smalls was a top contender for New York City Public Advocate. In a historically crowded field, Smalls stood out, receiving over 17,000 votes from voters in all five boroughs and placing ahead of several sitting election officials including members of the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly. Smalls continues to be actively engaged in politics, advising candidates on the local, state and federal level.