Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander

Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander (born 1951) is a lawyer, academic, author and consultant who created the first course in employment law addressing workplace discrimination for colleges of business and led in the development of what is now known as Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).

Working in the employment law field for more than 40 years, she is an expert in legal studies, inclusion, diversity, and sexual harassment.

She published works about gender, race, sexual orientation, and particularly within the context of employment law.

Born in 1951 in Washington, D.C., Dawn D. Bennett is the daughter of Ann Pearl Frances Liles Bennett and William H. Bennett, who served in the military during World War II.

After the war and university, he worked for the federal government, including the Census Bureau, and was a pastor for 22 years, beginning in 1955, at Galilee Baptist Church in Washington D.C. She had four siblings from her mother and father, Jean, Gale, Brenda, and William, who is a pastor.

She taught Employment Law at colleges of business based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Bennett-Alexander attended Defiance College from 1968 to 1970 and she earned her B.A. from Federal City College (now the University of the District of Columbia) in 1972.

Bennett-Alexander's mother, Ann, died in 1971.

When William Bennett married Pearl Thompson Bennett, Bennett-Alexander acquired two stepsisters Roberta and Rosalyn and a step brother, Donnell Thompson.

When she was age two, her family moved into what had been an all-white neighborhood, feeling that her family were at least as good as their neighbors in Washington, D.C. Bennett-Alexander adapted well, with mixed results in terms of who she wanted as friends, who could be trusted, and who moved out of the neighborhood.

She earned her J.D. from the Howard University School of Law in 1975.

Bennett-Alexander was a law clerk to Honorable Julia Cooper Mack at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1976.

From there, she was assistant to associate director and counsel at the White House Domestic Policy Council until 1977.

She was then a law clerk at the Federal Trade Commission from 1977 to 1978.

Bennett-Alexander began her teaching career at the Antioch School of Law from 1979 to 1980.

Bennett-Alexander has been a member of National Council of Negro Women and National Organization for Women since the 1980s, and also joined legal, political action committee, and theater organizations.

She served as a board member for the Girls Clubs of Jacksonville, Inc., Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Northeast Florida, and the Friends of Athens Creative Theater.

She received the National Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Excellence in Teaching Award and President's Martin Luther King Jr. Fulfilling the Dream Award at the University of Georgia.

She has received other awards for research and teaching excellence and multi-party dispute resolution.

An annual award was created in her name, the Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander Inclusive Community Award, for faculty members at the University of Georgia.

After that, she was an advisor and attorney at the Federal Labor Relations Authority from 1981 to 1982, when she was hired at the University of North Florida as an associate professor of business and employment law.

In 1984, she received a fellowship from the McKnight Foundation, Florida Endowment Fund, and McKnight Jr. Faculty Award.

At the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business since 1988, she is the only tenure-track African American female professor.

Other important publications are: "Sexual Harassment in the Office", in Personnel Administrator in 1988; "The State of Affirmative Action in Employment: A Post Stotts Retrospective" in the American Business Law Journal in 1990, "Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment: A Clearer View" in the Labor Law Journal in 1991; and The Legal, Ethical & Regulatory Environment of Business, published in 1996.

Bennett-Alexander met Laura Hartman at an Academy of Legal Studies in Business conference in the 1990s and they since then they co-authored college text books, beginning with Employment Law for Business, the first Employment Law textbook for colleges of business.

Linda P. Hartman, has been the associate vice-president for academic affairs at DePaul University.

Bennett-Alexander was the president of the Southeastern Academy of Legal Studies in Business from 1992 to 1993.

She was a co-chair of the Employment Law Section at the American Academy of Legal Studies in Business from 1992 to 1994.

Bennett-Alexander, author of "Reflections on being an out African American lesbian on a Southern campus" in Lesbians in academia (1997), has published about affinity orientation, including her experiences as an out faculty member, stating that "I think it benefits me and my colleagues and the students".

In 2011, Bennett-Alexander co-authored the The Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Environment of Business in a Diverse Society.

Bennett-Alexander wrote My Hair Is Not Like Yours: Workplace Hair Grooming Policies for African American Women as Racial Stereotyping in Violation of Title VII in 2016 with Linda F. Harrison.

Like their mother, Bennett-Alexander's three daughters contributed to the book Children of the Dream : our own stories of growing up Black in America. They are Jennifer Dawn Bennett-Alexander, Anne Alexis Bennett-Alexander, and Tess Alexander Bennett-Harrison.

Bennett-Alexander retired from University of Georgia in 2020.

Bennett-Alexander taught the Anti-Racist Courtroom course at the National Judicial College and became a member of its faculty.

Bennett-Alexander consulted with organizations and companies about equity and inclusion after the racially motivated killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.

The purpose of her work with them was to identify ways in which they may have fallen short in the past and what they can do now to be more equitable and inclusive.

Bennett-Alexander noted that the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal brought unprecedented levels of detail to the discussion of sexual scandals and harassment, so that some people feel freer to share their own experiences.

She established the Practical Diversity consulting firm.