Zenna Elhasan
By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — Zenna Elhasan, of Dearborn has been appointed to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission for a three-year term by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Her term began Jan. 1 and will continue until Dec. 31, 2023, as she succeeds Rasha Demashkieh whose term expired Dec. 31.
“I am honored that Governor Whitmer entrusted me with the awesome responsibility of protecting the most sacred rights of Michigan’s nearly 10 million residents” Elhasan wrote on Facebook. “I am ever-aware that, since it’s founding, the commission is a place where people of backgrounds as diverse as Damon Keith and John Feikens — both inaugural members of the Commission — joined together to make Michigan a more just and equitable place to live.
“I pledge only my best to honor that tradition of cooperation and mutual respect as I carry out my duties. Thank you to my friends, family and colleagues for your support and encouraging words. I am truly humbled by your kindness.”
Currently, Elhasan is the lead attorney and general counsel for The Kresge Foundation. She is also a member of the ACCESS Community Advisory Board, The Children’s Foundation of Michigan Board and the State Bar of Michigan Access to Justice Policy Committee.
In 2004, she earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in biology from University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Elhasan previously served as corporation counsel for Wayne County, judicial magistrate and director of probation for the 20th District Court and legal assistant in the Michigan Attorney General’s office.
Whitmer made the announcement Dec. 18 in a press release along with appointments to the Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission and the Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963 to carry out the guarantees against discrimination articulated in Article I, Section 2.
As further stated in Article V, Section 29, the State Constitution directs the Commission to investigate alleged discrimination against any person because of religion, race, color or national origin, and to “secure the equal protection of such civil rights without such discrimination.”
Public Acts 453 and 220 of 1976 and subsequent amendments have added sex, age, marital status, height, weight, arrest record, and physical and mental disabilities to the original four protected categories.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])