Timothy A. Wilkins

Wilkins was born in 1964 and grew up in Chicago, IL. He graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory School in 1982.[1] Wilkins graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1986[2] where he majored in sociology and was president of the Harvard Black Student Association.[3]

Wilkins later earned a dual JD/MBA degree from the Harvard Law School and the Harvard Business School in 1993.[2]

Wilkins began his career as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.[4]

He joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 1999 and spent eight years practicing law in the Tokyo office handling international transactions.[5]

In 2016 Wilkins was named the Minority Lawyer of the Year in Private Practice by Chambers USA. He was listed as the highest-ranked lawyer on the Financial Times list of 100 Leading Ethnic Minority Executives[6] and recognized by Empower as a leader on issues of racial justice and equality.[7]

In 2019, Wilkins was selected to lead a global team at Freshfields focusing on sustainability,[8] environmental and social issues.[9] Their first assignment focused on ways to solve New York City’s sustainability issues,[10] such as waste, resources, climate change, and job creation.[11] He later co-founded the New York Circular City Initiative, a program to develop a circular economic system that promotes greater employment and a greener environment for the city, including its less advantaged neighborhoods.[12]

Wilkins is the brother of Harvard Law professor David B. Wilkins.[13] His father, Julian Wilkins,[14] was the first Black partner at a major law firm in Chicago.[15] He is the grandson of J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and the nephew of J Ernest Wilkins Jr.[16]

He is active in several initiatives to broaden diversity in the law.[17] He is the founding co-chair of the Steering Committee of The Opportunity Agenda, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding equal opportunity.[4] In 2020 he was named among the EMpower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive Role Models.[12]

Wilkins has served on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the New York City Bar Association[18] and was a member of the Council of Urban Professionals.[19] He has served on several non-profit boards including the New York Public Theater, the City Bar Fund of the New York City Bar Association, and Equality Now.[2] He was also a Committee Member of the Cyrus Vance Center for International Justice and was appointed to the board of New York City Global Partners[20] by Mayor Bill De Blasio in 2015. The mayor later named Wilkins to serve on the New York City Economic Development Corporation.[4]

In 2018, New York Public Radio, the owner of WNYC, the New York affiliate of National Public Radio, named Wilkins to their board.[21] In 2021, Wilkins was named as chairman of the board of New York Public Radio following a string of high-profile incidents involving claims of harassment and discrimination.[22][23]