Each month, the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) will be highlighting diverse attorneys from within our community on the DEIC web page to recognize their achievements and contributions. This February, when we celebrate Black History Month, the DEIC is proud to shine a light on Rahsaan Hall, president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM).
Hall leads ULEM’s efforts to enable communities to overcome racial and social barriers that cause economic inequities, which are exacerbated by sexual and domestic violence, by creating employment and economic development opportunities. He is also the founder and principal of Rahsaan Hall Consulting, where he provides experienced racial justice and criminal law reform advocacy focusing on community engagement, policy advocacy and racial equity. He recently ran for Plymouth County district attorney, on a platform of progressive reform, which garnered the support and endorsements of local and national politicians and celebrities.
Previously, Hall served as the director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, where he helped develop the ACLU of Massachusetts’ integrated advocacy approach to address racial justice issues. Through legislative advocacy, litigation and community engagement, the program worked on issues that deeply impact communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities. Hall also managed the ACLU of Massachusetts' What a Difference a DA Makes campaign to educate state residents about the power and influence of district attorneys. His work also included leading coalitions on critical police and criminal law reform efforts and expanding access and protections for voting rights.
Hall is a highly sought-after public speaker and has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work, including Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2021, the Equal Justice Coalition’s 2019 Beacon of Justice Award, Get Konnected‘s 2018 GK100, Boston’s Most Influential People of Color and Massachusetts Communities Action Network’s 2018 Carry if On Leadership Award.
Prior to joining the ACLU of Massachusetts, Hall was the deputy director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, where his work included policy and legislative advocacy, community outreach, and maintaining a litigation caseload of voting rights, police misconduct and public accommodations cases. Hall headed up the Voting Rights Project that included the coordination of the statewide Election Protection initiatives, voting rights litigation and his prior involvement in community coalitions on redistricting after the last decennial census.
He also served as an assistant district attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A significant portion of his work in the DA’s Office included his time in the Safe Neighborhood Initiative and Senior Trial Units, where he prosecuted drug, gang and homicide cases.
Hall also serves on the boards of the Who We Are Project and the Hyams Foundation. Hall is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University (B.A.), Northeastern University School of Law (J.D.) and Andover Newton Theological School (M.Div.). He is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.