About Meredith R. Weisel, Regional Director of ADL’s Washington DC office

Meredith R. Wiesell HeadshotMeredith R. Weisel serves as the Regional Director of the ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) Washington, DC Regional Office. Since its founding in 1913, ADL has been a leading anti-hate and civil rights organization committed to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and securing justice and fair treatment to all. ADL is dedicated to combating antisemitism, prejudice, and bigotry of all kinds, as well as defending democratic ideals and promoting civil rights. ADL has long been recognized as a leading resource on effective responses to violent bigotry, drafting model hate crime statutes for state legislatures, investigating extremist threats across the ideological spectrum, and providing resources, expertise and educational briefings that enable law enforcement, educators, the tech industry, public officials, and community leaders ways to effectively address and counter threats to our communities.

Meredith is the first woman to lead the DC office where she plans, executes, and oversees the direction and administration of all regional office activities in order to advance ADL’s mission in the DC region, which serves the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. She is an experienced attorney and government relations professional who has spent decades engaged in public policy and community issues in the Greater Washington area. Additionally, she serves on the advisory board of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Payne Center for Social Justice, is active at her synagogue Shaare Torah and most recently served for 3 ½ years on the Montgomery County Commission for Women.

Meredith joined ADL in 2019 after serving as the Director of Maryland Government and Community Relations for the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington. During her time at the JCRC, she helped to advance legislative priorities that focused on advocating for strengthening hate crimes laws, confronting and educating about antisemitism, securing security funds for houses of worship, schools and childcare centers at-risk of hate crimes, enhancing Holocaust education, and more.

Meredith also previously was the principal owner of Weisel Government Relations, LLC, where she provided clients in Maryland with governmental affairs and relations consulting on legislative action and public policy solutions, community relations, political affairs, lobbying, and legal services. At the same time, she also served as one of partners at Government Affairs Strategies, LLC, which helped to develop strategic visions for clients nationally to help them achieve successful public policy, political affairs, and public advocacy outcomes.

Finally, Meredith served for 9 ½ years in-house as the Vice President of Public Policy for Maryland and Legal Counsel for the Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS®, Inc. (GCAAR). She represented GCAAR at the state and local government level in Maryland from 2000 through 2015 where she served as the Maryland state and local lobbyist, representing real estate professionals on numerous local, state, and federal legislative initiatives.

She holds a BA from American University in an interdisciplinary study of Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government and a JD from the Widener University School of Law. Meredith is admitted to practice law in Maryland. She lives with her husband and their two children, and their beloved dog in North Potomac, Maryland.

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