Convention Speakers
Justin Levitt
Photo and content credit: Loyola Law School
A nationally recognized scholar of constitutional law and the law of democracy, Professor Justin Levitt has returned to Loyola after serving from 2021-22 as the White House’s first Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights. There, within a team devoted to racial justice and equity, Levitt assisted the President in his efforts to make sure that every eligible American has secure, reliable access to a meaningful vote; to provide equitable representation in government; to restore trust in a democracy deserving of that trust; and to bolster avenues by which Americans build community and engage in civic participation.
Levitt had previously served in the federal government as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. At DOJ, he primarily supported the Civil Rights Division’s work on voting rights and protections against employment discrimination (including federal statutory protections against workplace discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex — including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity — religion, national origin, citizenship status, and military service).
Levitt has published in the flagship law reviews at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Georgetown, and William & Mary, the peer-reviewed Election Law Journal, and the flagship online law journals at Yale and NYU, among others. He has served as a visiting faculty member at the Yale Law School, UCLA School of Law, USC’s Gould School of Law, and Caltech. He was Loyola’s Associate Dean for Research from 2017-20, and was honored to receive Loyola’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2013-14, 2019-20, and 2023-24. He became an elected member of the American Law Institute in 2024.
Levitt has been invited to testify before committees of the U.S. House and Senate, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, several state legislative bodies, and both federal and state courts. His research has been cited extensively in the media and the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He maintains the website All About Redistricting, tracking the process of state and federal redistricting around the country, including litigation.
Levitt served in various capacities for several presidential campaigns, including as the National Voter Protection Counsel in 2008, helping to run an effort ensuring that tens of millions of citizens could vote and have those votes counted. Before joining the faculty of Loyola Law School, he was counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law for five years. He also worked as in-house counsel to the country’s largest independent voter registration and engagement operation, and at several nonprofit civil rights and civil liberties organizations.
At Loyola, Levitt established the Practitioner Moot Program, a complimentary service to the community allowing attorneys with pending appellate matters to practice their arguments before faculty experts and experienced advocates. Under the program, Loyola has hosted recent moots for cases later argued in the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and the California Courts of Appeal, among others.
Levitt served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He holds a law degree and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review. He is admitted to the bar in California, New York, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.
Dianna Wynn
Photo and content credit: League of Women Voters
Dianna Wynn was elected president of the League of Women Voters of the United States in 2024. Dianna was originally elected to the LWVUS Board in 2022 and served as its vice president and on the Governance Committee, the Transformation Team, and the Executive Committee.
Upon Dianna’s election as LWV President, Rep. Wiley Nickel of North Carolina entered into the congressional record, “Ms. Wynn has been a longstanding fighter for voting rights…I am confident that Ms. Wynn will serve the League of Women Voters in their efforts to ensure that women’s electoral voices are heard and to strengthen our democracy.”
Prior to joining the LWVUS Board, Dianna was president of the League of Women Voters of Wake County in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she previously served as the Communications Director and chaired the Strategic Planning, DEI, Redistricting, and 100th Anniversary committees. She has been a guest speaker on various issues, interviewed by numerous media outlets, and presented statements before government entities.
She is a past president of the ACLU of North Carolina, where she served on the board for several years. Her work with the League and the ACLU reflects her dedication to using a nonpartisan approach when advocating on important issues.
Dianna has over 35 years of experience delivering training to businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and adult learners. She has helped clients develop a strategic approach to group decisions and provided training in essential communication skills, including group dynamics, leadership, listening, conflict management, verbal and nonverbal effectiveness, group problem-solving, and advocacy skills.
Dianna also has almost a decade of experience as a trial consultant working with attorney-clients in jurisdictions nationwide to develop courtroom communication strategies in preparation for complex civil litigation matters.
She was a full-time faculty member at Nash Community College in North Carolina, Midland College in Texas, and Prince George’s Community College in Maryland. At Prince George’s, she was the director of forensics (speech and debate) and the Honors Program director; in recognition of her work, she received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Her courses addressed essential communication skills, including argumentation and advocacy, leadership, group dynamics, intercultural communication, and public speaking. Previously, as, an adjunct professor, she taught courses at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia. Dianna has provided instruction in various settings ranging from traditional classrooms and virtual classes to in-person college courses for the incarcerated.
She is the co-author of several college textbooks, including Working in Groups, THINK Communication, and The Challenge of Communicating. Working in Groups is a market leader, with translated editions used in college classrooms worldwide.
Dianna has an MS in Communication with a minor in Political Science from the University of North Texas, a B.A. in Speech Communication from California State University-Fullerton, and an AA in Administration of Justice from Cerritos College in California. She is a life member of the National Communication Association. In 2019 UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for the Study of the American South included Dianna in their oral histories of notable women in North Carolina.
Born in Arizona and raised in Texas and California, Dianna currently lives in Cary, North Carolina. In her spare time, she is an avid reader and enjoys visiting museums and art galleries with her husband. Dianna previously served on the Board of Directors for Artspace, a nonprofit arts organization in downtown Raleigh dedicated to inspiring positive community impact through art.