BALTIMORE, MD (Tuesday, December 22, 2020) — Mayor Brandon M. Scott is appointing Acting City Solicitor Dana P. Moore to serve as Baltimore’s first Chief Equity Officer, a cabinet-level position. She will also be Director of the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, tasked with advancing equity, upholding local and federal civil rights laws and local living and prevailing wage laws, and providing oversight of local law enforcement.

As Chief Equity Officer, Moore will work closely with the Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer to ensure city government operates through a framework of equity across all agencies, boards, and commissions. She will help city agencies shape their equity platforms, offer guidance, and ensure compliance with local equity laws, including those championed by Mayor Scott when he was a councilmember. 

“Baltimore’s legacy of inequitable policies and practices has been further exacerbated by the current public health pandemic. Over this term and beyond, we must be unafraid to confront our past and lay the foundation for an equitable city,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “That will require the kind of leadership, hard work, expertise, and collaboration that have been hallmarks of Solicitor Moore’s career. From her legal experience to her personal commitment to the mission of equity, she is the perfect choice to serve as Baltimore’s inaugural Chief Equity Officer and lead the Office of Equity and Civil Rights.”

Moore is the first woman to serve as City Solicitor in Baltimore, a role she assumed in March 2020. She has led the City’s legal response to the pandemic, helping convert the Baltimore Convention Center into a field hospital, establishing testing sites throughout the city and negotiating terms to convert hotels into respite sites. Prior to serving as Acting City Solicitor, Moore served as Deputy City Solicitor, a role in which she also made history as the first woman.

Before that, she was a commissioner on the Planning Commission and the Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners, where she instituted major reforms and a city-wide community outreach program. She also served on the Board of Ethics, where she authored the Board’s first annual report.

Moore is deeply involved in the Baltimore community. She has also served on numerous non-profit boards, including Mother Seton Academy, the Bates College Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the Monumental City Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Elijah Cummings Youth Program, Marian House, Inc. and CLIA – Community Law in Action.

Moore earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Bates College and her juris doctorate from Washington & Lee University School of Law. Moore has been recognized for her leadership in the field of law. She founded her own practice, where she assisted small, minority and women owned businesses. Additionally, Moore has served as a pro bono attorney, in addition to practicing law at Venable LLP, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, and Tydings & Rosenberg, P.A. 

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Dana P. Moore Headshot