The Legal Aid Society is pleased to welcome Chandra M. Hayslett as its new Chief Communications Officer, where she will be responsible for shaping and executing a forward-thinking communications strategy that supports the organization’s mission across its practice areas.

Chandra is a Pulitzer Prize-winning communications executive with over 20 years of experience in public relations, marketing, and journalism, specializing in integrated marketing and communications strategies for nonprofits. She most recently served as the Vice President of Communications at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, where she led the creation and execution of communications plans to boost the think tank’s engagement with key audiences on Capitol Hill, promote its research, and support the organization’s growth.

Before joining the Joint Center, Chandra was the Director of Communications at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she oversaw the development of strategic and crisis communications for the legal and advocacy nonprofit during President Trump’s first term.

Prior to transitioning into public relations, she spent 11 years as a newspaper reporter covering K-12 public education and politics at newspapers across Tennessee and New Jersey, including The Star-Ledger (Newark), where she was part of a reporting team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News.

Chandra is a member of the National and New York Associations of Black Journalists, Communications Network, and Public Relations Society of America. She has a Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies from the University of Tennessee.