Please join us on June 7th from 5pm-6pm for Coffee for Change: A Conversation with Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward, and Mimi Swartz, Executive Editor at Texas Monthly discussing Democracy Forward’s legal efforts to protect people and democracy. Light refreshments will be provided.
Skye Perryman is a lawyer and the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that advances democracy and progress in the courts. Under Skye’s leadership, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in protecting the American people from harmful and unlawful federal executive action, including securing an nationwide order stopping the freeze on funding and essential services, blocking executive actions that undermine diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, blocking the dismantling of the Department of Education, and and opposing attempts to politice our nation’s civil service. Democracy Forward’s work in state and local communities, which Skye launched during her tenure as CEO, is also nationally recognized.
Named as one of the 2025 100 Most Influential People In The World by Time Magazine on the TIME100, Skye is known for developing innovative legal strategies, building unique communities and coalitions, and values-based leadership. Prior to joining Democracy Forward as CEO, Skye served as the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists where she oversaw a wide range of legal, policy, and communications initiatives in the COVID-19 pandemic, including a legal strategy that led to the distribution of mifepristone by mail for the first time in US history and a policy strategy that extended Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands of women. She was a member of Democracy Forward’s founding legal team and previously held litigation roles at WilmerHale and Covington & Burling where she won numerous awards for her effective legal work.
Featured as a Woman to Watch by The New Republic, one of the 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy by the Washingtonian Magazine, and a Rising Star in litigation by Superlawyer, among others, Skye frequently appears on both network and cable television and her work is routinely covered by The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Associated Press, Politico, MSNBC, NPR, and Texas Monthly. She serves on the boards of the Interfaith Alliance, the Texas Observer, the Baylor Line Foundation, and the Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. She is a native Texan and a proud product of its K-12 public education. She is an honors graduate of both Baylor University and the Georgetown University Law Center.
For more information or to order books, please visit: https://www.brazosbookstore.com/event/store-coffee-change-conversation-skye-perryman-and-mimi-swartz