Deborah Dicks Maxwell was elected as the first woman president of the NC NAACP in October 2021.  President Maxwell was elected by a majority vote after serving for the last 10 years as the president of the New Hanover branch of the  NAACP and eight years as the district director of Walter B. White District 16.

As president of one of the largest NAACP state conferences, President Maxwell  will place high priority on:

• Fighting back against attempts to suppress the vote and dismantle the Voting Rights Act includingn focusing on voter education, voter registration and voter turnout in upcoming elections. The NAACP is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse candidates for political office at any level.
• Rebuilding and strengthening the state structure of the NAACP including renewing trust of the NC NAACP, increasing membership and the number of branches on college and university campuses, and building strong community partnerships with other organizations committed to justice and freedom.
• Working to address health equity in the face of the COVID19 pandemic which has disproportionately impacted historically margianlzied communities.
• Improving educational outcomes for poor, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian youth, including working with educators, school nurses,  psychologists and social workers,  and policy makers to improve school safety, mental wellbeing of children,  and close the academic acheievemnt gap. Under President Maxwell’s leaderhsip, the  NC NAACP will continue to closely monitor progress adhering to the most recent ruling in the  Leandro case to ensure that that every child in NC recieves a “sound basic education” that includes competent and well-trained teachers and principals and equitable access to resources.

President Maxwell served in the US Army and US Army Reserves, reaching the rank of Sergeant First Class. She participated in Operation Desert Storm.  She is also a retired public health social worker and worked  on vaccine equity with Healthier Together: Health Equity Action Network, a public-private partnership between the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the NC Counts Coalition to increase the number of Black, Indigenous and People of Color receiving COVID-19 vaccines in North Carolina. In 2020 Maxwell was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force on Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.

President Maxwell succeeds Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, who was elected to lead the civil rights organization in 2017.