(BALTIMORE – December 4, 2024)—Be sure to RSVP for BMORENews.com’s Black Wall Street SOIREE, our annual fundraiser to support our Joe Manns Black Wall Street initiative, on Thursday, December 5, 2024 (6 to 9 pm) at the Downtown Cultural Arts Center at 401 N. Howard Street.
RSVP to https://blackwallstreetsoiree.eventbrite.com/.
Delivering the keynote is one of the most influential business professionals in the world, Attorney Alicia Wilson.
Who is Alicia?
Alicia Wilson, Esq. is the managing director and head of regional philanthropy for JPMorgan Chase in North America. At JPMorgan, Alicia oversees the local philanthropic strategies across 40+ markets in North America, collaborating intentionally with senior leaders across the firm’s corporate responsibility and business units to drive meaningful impact across JPMorgan’s business footprint in the U.S. and Canada. This includes helping to steward the $2 billion philanthropic commitment as part of the firm’s broader Racial Equity Commitment.
Before joining JPMorgan, Alicia served as Vice President of Economic Development for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System and as Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. At Johns Hopkins, Alicia led a core cross-institutional team focused on developing and implementing Hopkins’ institution-wide strategies and initiatives as an anchor institution in and around its campuses within and abroad. Alicia spearheaded the elevation and expansion of Hopkins’ signature commitment to its communities through investments in real estate, economic and neighborhood development, healthcare, and education.
Prior to joining Hopkins, Alicia served as the Senior Vice President of Impact Investments and Senior Legal Counsel to the Port Covington Development Team. Port Covington is a 235-acre redevelopment project in Baltimore, Maryland, and is one of the most significant urban revitalization efforts in the United States. As Senior Vice President of Impact Investments and Senior Legal Counsel, Alicia ensured that the $5.5 billion Port Covington Development Project generated a measurable beneficial social and environmental impact alongside a financial return for its equity investors in the project (i.e., Goldman Sachs, Kevin Plank, and other equity investors). She led a team focused on measuring and reporting the social and environmental performance and progress of the Port Covington Project to maximize both performance and impact while ensuring transparency and accountability to stakeholders.
Before being promoted to Senior Vice President of Impact Investments and Senior Legal Counsel, Alicia served as Vice President of Community Affairs and Legal Advisor to Sagamore Development Company, a Plank Industries Company. During the 2016 Baltimore City Council legislative session, Alicia drafted key pieces of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) legislation. She served as the principal negotiator of the TIF legislation and the two largest Community Benefit Agreements in the history of Baltimore associated with the passage of a $660 million TIF bill, the largest TIF awarded in the history of the United States at that time. The negotiations of the community benefit agreements involved over 200 stakeholder groups representing tens of thousands of residents from across the City of Baltimore.
Before joining Sagamore Development Company, Alicia was a partner at the downtown Baltimore law firm of Gordon Feinblatt — the sixth-largest law firm in Maryland. When Alicia became a partner on the eve of her seventh year of practice, she became the first African-American to be named a partner in the firm’s sixty-year history. Alicia is a talented trial attorney and sought-after legal advisor to individuals and business owners on all aspects of real estate, financial services, and employment and labor law matters. In her legal practice, Alicia established herself as a strategic communicator, shrewd negotiator, and savvy architect of complex deals involving multiple stakeholders and robust community engagement.
Alicia is actively involved in civic and charitable organizations. She serves on the boards of Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland School of Law Board of Visitors, the CollegeBound Foundation, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and the France-Merrick Foundation. She also co-founded the Black Philanthropy Circle at the Baltimore Community Foundation. Alicia is also Chair of the CollegeBound Foundation and, as such, is the first CollegeBound Foundation alum, first woman, first African-American, and youngest Board Chair in the thirty history of the organization. Alicia also serves as a Parliamentarian within the Harbor City Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, and is a proud Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated member.
Alicia is a University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) graduate and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. At the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Wilson was a Blaustein and Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar and, in 2003, was named the Harry S. Truman Scholar for the state of Maryland. She is the first student in the history of UMBC to be awarded this honor. Alicia was named the inaugural 2004 Andrew Levy Leadership Scholar at the University of Maryland School of Law. In late 2004, she was also named the 2004 George L. Russell Scholar at the School of Law. While in law school, Alicia served as the co-captain of the Maryland Law National Trial Team and led her team to be ranked the number one trial team in the country.
Alicia has received numerous awards and honors for her accomplishments and public service. Most recently, Alicia was recognized as the 2024 Voice of Justice Honoree by the University of Baltimore School of Law, one of the Power 50 Women of Influence for 2024 by the US Black Chamber of Commerce, the 2023 Sally Michel Honoree by the Parks and People Foundation, and the 2023 Change Maker of the Year by the William & Lanaea Featherstone Foundation. Alicia was recognized as Pro Bono Partner of the Year for 2022 by the Equal Justice Council. She was selected as the 2022 Whitney M. Young Award recipient for her service to youth by the Boys Scouts of America, Baltimore Area Council. In 2021, Alicia received the Humanity of Connection Award from AT&T for her commitment and leadership in advancing anchor strategies that elevate and expand communities through economic development, healthcare, and education. She was also recognized in 2021 by Black Enterprise as one of the 40 leaders under 40 who are “changing the world at local, national, and global levels.” Her work within Baltimore was also recently honored by the Junior League of Baltimore, naming Alicia their Inaugural Woman of Distinction. In 2020, Alicia was named to the Maryland Daily Record’s 2020 VIP List, the National Bar Association’s 2019 40 Under 40 List of the Nation’s Top Advocates, the 2019 Whitney M. Young Award Recipient by the Greater Baltimore Urban League, a 2019 Distinguished Women by the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, and as one of Maryland’s 2019 three most inspiring voices by Community Law In Action. In 2018, Alicia was recognized as an Unstoppable Women by the UWAC Collective, as one of two Power Women of the Year by the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, and as Community Advocate of the Year by the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce.
Her professional and civic leadership have propelled her to the forefront of local and national media attention. Most recently, Alicia was recognized as one of the 15 Black Marylanders to Watch for 2023 by the Baltimore Sun. In mid-2022, Savoy Magazine recognized Alicia as one of the “Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America”. She was also named a 2022 “Women Who Wins” and Newsmaker of the Year for 2021 by the Afro-American Newspaper. In late 2021, Alicia was featured in Baltimore Style Magazine as one of Baltimore’s Six Women of Strength for her leadership and civic involvement. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the Top 25 Emerging Leaders in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare, by Baltimore Magazine as one of the 30 Women Shaping the Future of Baltimore, and by the Maryland Daily Record as one of Maryland’s Very Important Professionals in Business. In 2019, Alicia was profiled in Forbes magazine as the “The Black Millennial Lawyer Making Michelle Obama More Accessible to Baltimore’s Youth.” Additionally, Savoy Magazine named her one of the “Most Influential Women in Corporate America” for 2019. Also in 2019, Alicia was featured in the Maryland Daily Record as one of the Top 50 Influential Marylanders. In late 2018, the National Business Journal named Alicia one of the nation’s Top 50 Influencers under 40. That same year, Black Enterprise produced a television feature on Alicia for her work in securing the $660 million tax increment financing for the Port Covington Project. In early 2017, Wilson was featured and honored by WBFF Fox 45 as one of Baltimore’s four Champions of Courage. In 2016, the Baltimore Sun profiled Alicia as one of “Baltimore’s 25 Women to Watch.”
