Charlene Jackson Thompson was born in Danville, Virginia.  Ms. Thompson’s family moved to New York where she received her primary education in Roosevelt and graduated from Uniondale High School.  Ms. Thompson attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1988 and received the Benjamin Stoddert Ewell award for outstanding service to the school and community.  Upon graduation, Ms. Thompson was accepted into the Coro Foundation’s year-long Fellowship Program for leadership in public affairs.  After her fellowship, Ms. Thompson became program director of the Youth Civic Education Campaign for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). She was also part of the successful team to lobby in Albany and Washington, D.C. for the passage of the Motor-Voter Bill.  In 1991, she was appointed to the New York State Voting Rights Commission.

 

Ms. Thompson attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., graduating cum laude in 1994.  She also earned American Jurisprudence Awards for Academic Excellence in Property I and Professional Responsibility.  In addition to her academic studies at Howard, Ms. Thompson served on the board of directors of the D.C. Law Students in Court program, the Moot Court team and was Co-editor-in-Chief of the Howard Scroll: Social Justice Review.  Ms. Thompson has been a member of the Nassau County Bar Association for more than 20 years and has served as a Director of the Association, Representative to the New York State Bar House of Delegates and Chair of the Membership Committee from 2005-2008.  Ms. Thompson was a recipient of the 2006-2007 NCBA’s Directors Award for outstanding service as Chair of the Association Membership Committee. Ms. Thompson has also been an active member of the Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association where she served as Vice President of Programs and Commissioner on the 10th Judicial District’s Independent Judicial Election Qualification Committee.

 

Ms. Thompson was admitted to the New York State Bar in March of 1995.  After a summer internship, Ms. Thompson began her professional legal career in corporate litigation department of the Manhattan law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle. In September of 2002, Charlene joined the staff of Nassau County as the Deputy Director for the Economic Development Resource Center.  In addition to developing continuing education programs for local professionals, she authored successful grants for traffic safety and urban forestry improvements along the Nassau Road Corridor in Roosevelt and North Main Street in Freeport.  Beginning in June of 2004 she also served as the County’s Program Coordinator for the BioPartner’s Initiative focusing on high skilled and high technology business and workforce development. Charlene also served as Assistant to the Director, for Legal Affairs, in the Nassau County Office of Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs where she oversaw special economic development projects including the New Cassel Revitalization along the Prospect Avenue corridor.  Charlene is a federally certified Specialist in HOME Investment Partnership Program and provides ongoing technical assistance for local community housing development organizations.

 

From 2006-2010 Ms. Thompson served as an Adjunct Professor in the Politics, Economics and Law Department at SUNY Old Westbury. Her coursework included Constitutional Law and Civil Rights, the Politics of Race and Class in America, Introduction to U.S. Politics and Introduction to Law.  She also served as a pre-law advisor and administrator of the Pre-Law Center for the Department.

 

In 2010, Ms. Thompson launched her consulting firm, Thompson Economic Development Services, LLC, which provides comprehensive consulting services to public, private and nonprofit organizations undertaking and/or managing housing, business, economic and community development projects.   In addition to providing HUD compliance training for the States of New York and West Virginia, the firm was recently awarded two prime contracts to provide state-wide training and compliance monitoring for the State of New York. Ms. Thompson serves as co-chair of the Law and Government Committee of the Long Island Housing Crisis Task Force which focuses on bringing much needed information and housing resources to residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties.

 

Ms. Thompson remains active in her local community and has served on the Executive Committee of the Freeport-Roosevelt branch of the N.A.A.C.P., the Roosevelt Alumni Association; the Baldwin Oaks Civic Association; the advisory committee for the Division of Continuing Education for the Baldwin Union Free School District and  the Courting Justice Program run by the Hempstead Cultural Advisory Board.  Ms. Thompson is a certified adult educator and lectures regularly on voter empowerment and participation in local government.  As an active member of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt, she participates in the Living Word Ministry and serves as the Ministry Leader for the Community Outreach Ministry which focuses on Civic, Voter and Economic Education, Engagement and Empowerment.

 

Ms. Thompson resides in Baldwin and is the proud mother of three – Justina, Trevor and Jada.