Kim Keenan Arbitrator/Mediator JAMS

Kim Keenan is a nationally recognized lecturer, speaker, and legal pundit. She is a founding Director of the Digital Progress Institute, a Washington, DC based think tank focused on bipartisan national and local policy designed to advocate for ubiquitous internet availability for every American, as well as protect consumers and entrepreneurs in the internet ecosystem. Keenan joined the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS) in 2001 where she serves as a mediator/arbitrator for business and consumer disputes, employment discrimination, complex torts, and other contractual disputes. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Vice President of Marketing & Research and General Counsel at Odyssey Media. Previously, she served as the President and CEO of Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council. Prior to taking the helm at MMTC, Keenan served as General Counsel and Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the oldest, the largest and most recognized grassroots civil rights organization in the world. She is the first woman General Counsel to be selected after a national search. Her tenure is marked by significant voter and first amendment litigation, an overhaul of The Image Awards and the collective bargaining agreement, and more than a million dollars of pro bono legal services. Keenan has also served as principal of her own law firm and in the litigation practices of two nationally recognized law firms. Since 1999, she has served as a Senior Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University Law School where she teaches Negotiation and Trial Advocacy.

She is a past president of the 100,000+ member District of Columbia Bar as well as the National Bar Association. In 2023, she received The President’s Volunteer Service Award. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her advocacy and service including the Spirit of Democracy Award from the NCBCP, the Media Executive of the Year from Vote It Loud, the NAACP Medgar Evers Award for Excellence, and the Distinguished Civil Rights Advocate Award from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.