Karen Baynes-Dunning named to board of Southern Poverty Law Center
Former juvenile court judge is wife of Albany State University President Art Dunning
Karen Baynes-Dunning, the wife of Albany State University President Art Dunning and a former juvenile court judge, was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Special Photo)
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — Karen Baynes-Dunning, a former juvenile court judge and the wife of Albany State University President Art Dunning, was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is headquartered in Montgomery, Ala.
“I have long admired the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I am deeply honored to serve on the board,” Baynes-Dunning said Tuesday. “It is an extraordinary opportunity to support the remarkable staff of the SPLC as they make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable people in our society by combating hate through justice and education.”
Baynes-Dunning earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Wake Forest University in 1989 and a juris doctorate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992.
She began her legal career as an associate at the Alston & Bird firm in Atlanta. From 1996 to 1998, she served in Fulton County Juvenile Court as the first executive director of the new Court-Appointed Special Advocates program and then as director of program development.
In 1998, she was appointed as an associate judge in Fulton County Juvenile Court.
Following her legal career, Baynes-Dunning became involved in the world of academia. She served in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia and was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Science.
Drawing upon her experience with juveniles in the court system, she was appointed in 2013 to lead the State Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, an Alabama statewide juvenile justice reform effort.
In Georgia, Baynes-Dunning now serves as president of Baynes-Dunning Consulting and as one of two federal monitors overseeing reform efforts in the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.
The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees, Julian Bond, Joe Levin and Joseph J. Levin Jr. According to the agency’s website, it is “dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.”
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