Earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science and criminal justice from the University of South Carolina, Marquita M. Booker, Esq., went on to earn a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the College of Law at Florida A&M University, a Master of Public Administration from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Laws from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Certified by both the Florida Bar and the State Bar of Texas, she was inspired by her passion to eradicate discrimination and began her career as a lead equal opportunity compliance specialist in the Office of Equal Opportunity of the Palm Beach County Board of Commissions in 2002. She went on to serve as an employment and education discrimination attorney in the civil rights division of B&B Law, PA, from 2011 to 2015.
Cultivating significant expertise in social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, Ms. Booker spent 2016 to 2018 in multiple leadership roles with both the School Board of Broward County and the University of North Texas System. She served as the senior equal opportunity administrator and chief equity officer for the department of equal educational and employment opportunities with the School Board of Broward County and as the director of equity, diversity and inclusion and ADA and Title IX coordinator for the Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement of the University of North Texas System. Since 2018, Ms. Booker has been active as the associate vice president for inclusion and equity in the division of diversity and community engagement at the University of Texas at Austin.
Furthermore, Ms. Booker is the chief experience officer for The Fairness Firm, where she does private practice labor, employment and school law. Her goal, in her everyday duties, is to work toward restorative justice and mitigating the harm done by systematic inequity. She is also currently pursuing a Doctor of Education at the University of Illinois with the intent on moving completely into legal education upon the completion of her degree. Having always enjoyed working as a law professor, she hopes to have the opportunity to teach courses on systematic inequity and inequality. Throughout her career, Ms. Booker has attributed much of her success to her ability to connect with people during highly stressful times in their lives.
In addition to her primary responsibilities, Ms. Booker has authored a number of publications on social justice, racial equity, disability access, and restorative justice, and contributed her skills on a variety of boards and committees. She also holds membership in numerous professional organizations, such as the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity; the American Bar Association; the National Association of Professional Women; and more. Proud of having developed a diversity certificate program at the Center for Restorative Justice Practices that secured $300,000 during its first year, Ms. Booker considers her most notable achievement to be having progressed through the ranks of her career so quickly without sacrificing her ethics or values and to have contributed to systemic changes before she turned 40.
