7th Annual Youth & College Leadership Summit

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore is a respected policy analyst, researcher, and advocate with expertise in an array of public policy issues. Known as an insightful policy, program and communications strategist with a talent for agenda articulation and implementation, Dr. Rockeymoore has more than ten years of experience working at the highest levels of government and nonprofit management.

Prior to launching Global Policy Solutions, Dr. Rockeymoore served as Vice President for Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation where she successfully led the implementation of the organization’s five-year strategic plan. In addition to managing a portfolio of programs in the areas of economic development, education, public health and international affairs, one of her most important accomplishments in this position was the creation of the Foundation’s think tank—the Center for Policy Analysis and Research (CPAR).

Under Dr. Rockeymoore’s skilled leadership, CPAR released several influential studies and reports covering issues such as U.S. energy security, global warming, and Social Security reform. Through CPAR, Dr. Rockeymoore’s research and advocacy expertise helped define the national debate on Social Security reform and her efforts generated coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, ABC World News Tonight, Fox News, and C-SPAN among others national news sources. Dr. Rockeymoore is a sought after public speaker who has also testified before Congress on issues of importance to vulnerable populations.

Before joining CBCF, Dr. Rockeymoore served as the Senior Resident Scholar for Health and Income Security at the National Urban League’s policy think tank. In this position, she developed a strategic plan for the League’s health portfolio, oversaw implementation of a federal health program, and helped shaped the League’s welfare reform research agenda.

As Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Charles Rangel in the late 1990s, Dr. Rockeymoore helped facilitate passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act—the first-ever multi-lateral trade policy between the U.S. and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Other defining positions held by Dr. Rockeymoore include working as a professional staffer on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, as a CBCF Congressional Fellow in the Office of Congressman Melvin Watt, and as an Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Marion County Health Department in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Rockeymoore holds a B.A. in political science and mass communications from Prairie View A&M University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science and public policy from Purdue University. She is the author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America. Dr. Rockeymoore was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow in 2004 and holds other prestigious honors and awards.