Holly Dickson, a native of Batesville, has been named the Executive Director for the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union Foundation, according to a release Wednesday from the ACLU of Arkansas.
“I’m deeply honored that after a nationwide search, the ACLU of Arkansas Board of Directors entrusted me to become the new executive director of our affiliate,” Dickson — who has been interim executive director since the group’s former director, Rita Sklar, retired in 2019 — said in the release.
“Since I first stepped foot in our offices 14 years ago, working for the ACLU of Arkansas has been an honor. I became a lawyer to defend the rights of vulnerable people and communities, and serving as the ACLU of Arkansas’s legal director has enabled me to fight alongside and for Arkansans in so many important ways.”
Dickson has been practicing law since 1998 and with the ACLU of Arkansas since 2006. She studied political science, sociology, and criminal justice with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock before earning her Juris Doctorate with honors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Bowen School of Law.
Prior to joining the ACLU of Arkansas, Dickson worked in private practice litigating civil rights and employment cases on behalf of clients whose rights were violated, the organization noted on its website.
“Our founders, board members, staff, volunteers, donors, clients, and supporters — past and present — have devoted time, heart, and soul as a labor of love to make a more just state and nation for all people,” said Dickson. “To caretake that investment is a responsibility I will honor by continuing to work with our team, our supporters, and our allies to push for the change we want and need to see.”
Dickson previously served as the organization’s legal director.
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