The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism has announced that Kendra L. Abercrombie has joined the organization as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Manager.

In this role, Abercrombie will lead the Commission’s educational and advocacy initiatives aimed at promoting DEI in the legal and justice systems.

As DEI Manager, Abercrombie will be responsible for developing and delivering legal education on DEI and other professionalism topics, as well as managing the Commission’s involvement in the Jumpstart program for historically underrepresented law students and expanding DEI initiatives in the Commission’s mentoring program.

In addition, Abercrombie will develop new strategic partnerships addressing DEI challenges in the legal profession and administer metrics to track the effectiveness of the Commission’s strategic goals and programming related to DEI.

Abercrombie joins the Commission from Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, where she held the roles of Associate Director of Admissions and Diversity Recruitment and Assistant Director of Admissions and Diversity Initiatives. Prior to Maurer School of Law, Abercrombie was an Admissions Counselor and Recruiter at Arizona Summit Law School.

Abercrombie has served as an instructor of legal research and writing at the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity and an adjunct professor in economics at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Ind.

She was a member of the Law School Admissions Council’s Irregularities and Misconduct Committee, has served on diversity councils at Indiana University and the Maurer School of Law, and was an advisor to Maurer’s Black Law Student Association.

Abercrombie holds a JD from Arizona Summit Law School, an MBA from the Kogod School of Business at American University, and a BA from the University of Georgia.

In April 2021, she received the Dean Frank Motley Outstanding Faculty and Staff Award from Maurer’s Black Law Student Association. The award is granted to faculty and staff who have provided years of unwavering dedication and service to the Maurer community.