Speaker Bio
Kendra L. Abercrombie is the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Manager at the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, where she leads the Commission’s educational and advocacy initiatives aimed at promoting DEI in the legal and justice systems.
As DEI Manager, Kendra develops and delivers legal education on DEI and other professionalism topics and manages the Commission’s involvement in the Jumpstart program for historically underrepresented law students.
In addition, Kendra develops new strategic partnerships addressing DEI challenges in the legal profession and administers metrics to track the effectiveness of the Commission’s strategic goals and programming related to DEI.
Prior to joining the Commission, Kendra was Associate Director of Admissions and Diversity Recruitment and Assistant Director of Admissions and Diversity Initiatives at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. Earlier in her career, Kendra was an Admissions Counselor and Recruiter at Arizona Summit Law School.
Kendra has served as an instructor of legal research and writing at the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity and an adjunct professor in economics at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Ind.
She was a member of the Law School Admissions Council’s Irregularities and Misconduct Committee, has served on diversity councils at Indiana University and the Maurer School of Law, and was an advisor to Maurer’s Black Law Student Association.
Kendra holds a JD from Arizona Summit Law School, an MBA from the Kogod School of Business at American University, and a BA from the University of Georgia.
In April 2021, Kendra received the Dean Frank Motley Outstanding Faculty and Staff Award from Maurer’s Black Law Student Association. The award is granted to faculty and staff who have provided years of unwavering dedication and service to the Maurer community.
In her free time Kendra enjoys traveling, all things Beyonce, and college football season (as an avid Georgia Bulldogs fan).