Vivian Lee Adkins

Vivian Lee Adkins brings 10 years of legal experience and deep commitment to civil rights advocacy to her role as Manager of the Anti-Hate Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. In this position, she leads national efforts to combat hate crimes and bias incidents targeting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities through policy advocacy, coordinating rapid-response efforts, and leading community education, coalition building, and data-driven initiatives.

Prior to joining Advancing Justice | AAJC, Vivian served as Staff Attorney at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center in Washington, DC, where she represented survivors of hate crimes, human trafficking, and domestic violence through immigration relief. She built strategic networks of partner organizations to mount coordinated responses to anti-Asian hate and conducted Know Your Rights presentations for community members.

Vivian's approach to anti-hate work emphasizes community-centered advocacy and coalition building. She has extensive experience collaborating with law enforcement, schools, elected officials, and community organizations to address hate incidents and create systemic change. Her work developing training curricula for Montgomery County and DC public schools on bullying, bystander intervention, and hate crimes demonstrates her commitment to prevention education alongside direct services.

Vivian also serves as a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) with Voices For Children Montgomery, advocating for children in the foster care system. This work reflects her broader commitment to protecting vulnerable populations and ensuring access to justice for those pushed to society's margins.

Earlier in her career, Vivian served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Andrew Sonner at the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and practiced civil litigation at Wright Constable & Skeen, where she handled diverse caseloads including family law, employment law, and civil rights matters.

Vivian earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she served as Associate Editor of the Maryland Law Review and authored a published article on voting rights and race-based redistricting. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Barnard College. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

At Advancing Justice – AAJC, Vivian is passionate about advancing data-driven strategies to document and combat hate, strengthening local coalitions to support survivors, and building national capacity to address the rise in anti-AANHPI violence.