State and National Leadership

President of Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches

Leadership: Connecticut State President Scot X. Esdaile

State President Scot X. Esdaile is a member of the National Board of Directors and is President of the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches.

He is, also, the Chairman of the NAACP National Criminal Justice Committee and Chairman of the State of Connecticut Boxing Commission.

Mr. Esdaile was born and raised in New Haven, CT. He has received numerous awards and tributes for his many years of public, community, and civil rights service and is the recipient of the Kelly Miller Alexander, Sr.  Award. – the “NAACP’s National State Conference President of the Year Award”.

National NAACP President and CEO

A longstanding member and leader of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson is guiding the Association through a period of re-envisioning and re-invigoration.Leadership: National NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson

Born in Detroit, Mr. Johnson attended Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS. He then continued onto Houston, TX to receive his JD from the South Texas College of Law. In later years, Mr. Johnson furthered his training through fellowships with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the George Washington University School of Political Management, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has served as an annual guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, lending his expertise to Professor Lani Guinier’s course on social movements, and as an adjunct professor at Tougaloo College.

As the Chair of the Governor’s Commission for Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Johnson founded One Voice Inc. to improve the quality of life for African Americans through civic engagement training and initiatives. One Voice has spawned an annual Black Leadership Summit and the Mississippi Black Leadership Institute, a nine-month training program for community leaders.