UofM’s Hooks Institute Welcomes the Hon. Bernice Donald, Rami Lotay and Robert Shorty to its Board
Jan. 9, 2023 — The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change welcomes esteemed community leaders the Honorable Bernice Donald, Rami Lotay and Robert Shorty to its board!
About the Hooks Institute Advisory Board
The Hooks Advisory Board works with the leadership of the Hooks Institute in the strategic development and implementation of its mission and programs. Members have included community activists, attorneys, engineers, corporate, public relations officials and clergy.
About The Honorable Bernice B. Donald
The Honorable Bernice B. Donald received her law degree from the University of Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, a LLM from Duke University School of Law and an honorary Doctors in Law from Suffolk University. Prior to being appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2011, she served on the U.S. District Court for more than 15 years.
Judge Donald is a member of the prestigious American Law Institute and the American Bar Association (“ABA”) including ABA sections; Judicial Division, Appellate Judges, Criminal Justice, Labor and Employment Law, Antitrust, Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Litigation, as well as the Center for Human Rights, where she chairs the Dignity Rights Project. She has served as Chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights and chaired a committee which published an implicit bias resource book for judges and practitioners titled, Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias. Judge Donald served as Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section, focusing on issues concerning implicit bias, children of incarcerated parents, mass incarceration and the collateral consequences of incarceration.
About Raminder Lotay
Raminder (Rami) Lotay is a Project Manager at the FedEx Institute of Technology, the applied research arm of the University of Memphis. In his current role, Rami focuses on providing workforce development opportunities to corporate, non-profit and government organizations. He provides research support to the seven research clusters located at the FIT and countless researchers across the UofM. He also works closely with local technology community partners on events, hackathons and more.
Rami received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Memphis and is a graduate of the New Memphis Institute’s Fellows program.
About Robert Shorty
Dr. Robert Shorty is Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Nike, Inc., responsible for the Global Supply Chain and Sustainability. In this role, he is responsible for leading the implementation of Nike's global diversity, equity and inclusion strategy for more than 20,000 team members in 20-plus countries around the globe through coaching, educating and partnering closely with leaders.
A native of Chicago, Dr. Shorty brings more than 15 years of human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion experience with Fortune 100 companies — such as Target, McDonald's, Starbucks and Nike. Dr. Shorty holds a BS in Sociology from Illinois State University, a master's in Human Resource Management, and recently earned his Ph.D. in Organization Development. He also holds professional certifications in Human Resources through the HR Certification Institute & The Society of Human Resource Management.
About the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute implements its mission of teaching, studying and promoting civil rights and social change through research, education and direct intervention programs. Institute programs include community outreach; funding faculty research initiatives on community issues; implementing community service projects; hosting conferences, symposiums and lectures; and promoting local and national scholarship on civil and human rights. The Hooks Institute is an interdisciplinary center at the University of Memphis. Contributed revenue for the Hooks Institute, including funding from individuals, corporations and foundations, is administered through the University of Memphis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.