Monique Dixon is the executive director of the Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law at Maryland Carey Law. Launched in September 2023 and named after Maryland Carey Law Professors Larry Gibson and Taunya Banks, the center collaborates with community, government, and nonprofit organizational stakeholders to examine and address persistent issues of racial inequality and injustice across systems and institutions in Baltimore City, the state of Maryland, and nationwide.

An experienced civil rights attorney, Dixon joined Maryland Carey Law after serving as the deputy assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). At OCR, she led a team of lawyers and other staff in the development and distribution of policy documents detailing the legal obligations under federal nondiscrimination laws of pre-K through grade 12 schools and institutions of higher education. Prior to her federal government service, she practiced civil rights law at nonprofit organizations, including, most recently, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), where she was responsible for assisting with the development and implementation of LDF’s overall policy and legislative reform priorities with a focus on criminal justice and education.

Dixon is a 2017 recipient of the Maryland Daily Record Leadership in Law Award, a 2011 recipient of the Maryland Carey Law Benjamin L. Cardin ’67 Public Service Award, a 2009 recipient of the Racial Justice Award from the Young Women’s Christian Association, and a 1997 recipient of an Equal Justice Fellowship from the National Association for Public Interest Law (now Equal Justice Works).

Dixon is a 1996 graduate of Maryland Carey Law, where she served as an associate editor of the Maryland Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues. She graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College of the City University of New York.