Baltimore civic and business leader Alicia Wilson has been elected chair of the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, strengthening her already substantial influence across Maryland’s legal, educational and philanthropic communities. Alicia Wilson’s leadership is pivotal in shaping the future of the institution.
Wilson, a 2007 graduate of Maryland Carey Law, has served on the Board of Visitors since 2018. The board operates as an advisory body to the dean, providing professional insight, philanthropic support and connections to the legal and business communities that Alicia Wilson champions.
In her new leadership role, Alicia Wilson plans to concentrate on three areas: helping students secure clerkships, internships and employment; supporting innovative faculty scholarship; and advancing the strategic vision of Maryland Carey Law Dean Renée McDonald Hutchins.
“I’m thrilled to be chair of the Board of Visitors,” Alicia Wilson said in an interview published by the law school. She described her overarching objective as harnessing the board’s talent, expertise and commitment so it can remain an essential resource for the dean, students and faculty.
Her election places an accomplished Black woman and Baltimore native at the head of an influential group supporting one of Maryland’s leading legal institutions.
Building pathways from law school to employment
Alicia Wilson’s Impact on Legal Education
Wilson’s emphasis on clerkships and career opportunities could have a direct and lasting effect on students.
Judicial clerkships, internships and first professional positions often determine the direction of a young lawyer’s career. They provide experience, professional relationships and access to opportunities that cannot always be developed inside a classroom.
Wilson recognizes the importance of alumni using their experience and connections to assist the next generation.
“No matter how long we have practiced, we all know what it felt like to be a law school student and to need someone to mentor us,” Wilson told Maryland Carey Law.
That philosophy reflects her broader record of connecting institutions, businesses and communities. Her professional career has moved across law, financial services, economic development, philanthropy and higher education, giving her an unusually wide network to bring to the board’s work.
A career grounded in Baltimore
Born and raised in Baltimore, Wilson received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County before earning her law degree from Maryland Carey Law in 2007.
She currently serves as vice president for civic engagement and opportunity at Johns Hopkins University. In that position, she helps build relationships among the university, government, businesses and community organizations.
Before assuming her current position, Wilson was managing director and head of regional philanthropy for North America at JPMorgan Chase. She previously served as vice president of economic development for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Wilson also worked as senior vice president of impact investments and senior legal counsel for the Port Covington Development Team.
Her legal career includes a significant milestone: Wilson became the first Black partner in the then-60-year history of Baltimore law firm Gordon Feinblatt. She has also served as an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
These positions demonstrate an ability to operate where law, capital, community development and institutional leadership meet.
A record of board and community leadership
Wilson’s election is not her first time breaking barriers in board leadership.
She serves as chair of the CollegeBound Foundation, where she became the organization’s first alum, first woman, youngest person and first Black individual to hold the position. The foundation helps Baltimore City public-school students pursue and complete college degrees.
Wilson also serves on the boards of the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the France-Merrick Foundation. She co-founded the Black Philanthropy Circle at the Baltimore Community Foundation, an initiative designed to expand organized Black giving and direct resources toward community priorities.
Her leadership has received national recognition. The U.S. Black Chambers named Wilson among its 2024 Power 50 Women of Influence, and Savoy magazine has recognized her as one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America.
Returning leadership to the institution that helped shape it
Wilson was deeply involved at Maryland Carey Law long before her election as board chair.
As a student, she was co-captain of the National Trial Team and participated in the Black Law Students Association, the Maryland Public Interest Law Project and several service-oriented organizations. She also coached the Baltimore Freedom Academy mock-trial team.
At graduation, Wilson received awards recognizing her service to children, young people and the law school. She was also inducted into the Order of the Barristers, a national honorary organization recognizing excellence in courtroom advocacy.
Her return as chair represents a full-circle moment: a graduate who benefited from the institution is now helping create opportunities for its next generation of attorneys.
Wilson said she was initially drawn to Maryland Carey Law because of its location in Baltimore, the city where she wanted to make her greatest impact, and because she viewed members of its faculty as “freedom fighters.”
She now assumes leadership of the board at a consequential time for legal education. Law schools are confronting changing technology, escalating educational costs and continuing questions about access, representation and the future of the legal profession.
Wilson’s appointment gives Maryland Carey Law a chair with experience across all those boundaries—and a record of turning access into action.
“Our law school is in so many ways a national and global leader in pursuing justice,” Wilson said. “I’m excited for the future because we have amazing students, tremendous alums, outstanding faculty and a world-class dean.”
Her election is more than another entry on an already impressive résumé. It is a continuation of Wilson’s longstanding commitment to Baltimore, education and building pathways for others to lead.
Read the full Maryland Carey Law interview with Alicia Wilson.
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