Hudson County Community College Trustee Bakari G. Lee, Esq. Is Elected to Executive Committee of Association of Community College Trustees
October 18, 2013
JERSEY CITY, N.J. / October 18, 2013 - Bakari G. Lee, Esq., Vice Chairman of the Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Board of Trustees, was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Association of Community College Trustees’ Executive Committee at that organization’s Annual Leadership Congress last week in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1972, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is the nonprofit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees of community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States and beyond. ACCT’s purpose is to strengthen the capacity of community, technical, and junior colleges and to foster the realization of their missions through effective board leadership at local, state, and national levels.
Mr. Lee, a limited partner with the law firm of McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, was appointed to the HCCC Board of Trustees in 2006. He was elected to the ACCT Board of Directors and the office of Northeast Region Chair in 2011. Prior to that, he served as Associate Member of the ACCT Governance and Bylaws Committee, the 2011 Northeast Region Awards Committee and the 2010 Northeast Region Nominating Committee.
Mr. Lee is also the Chairman of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (Council). He served as Chairman of that body’s Legislative Committee and is a Trustee Ambassador as well. As Chair of the Council, Mr. Lee has engaged on a listening tour, endeavoring to meet with each of New Jersey’s 19 community college presidents and board chairs in order to learn how the Council can serve them better. He has also made a commitment to attend one commencement of each college during his tenure as chair and is currently two-thirds along his journey. This year’s tour concluded with his giving the commencement speech at Atlantic Cape Community College where the school conferred upon him an honorary Associate of Arts degree for his efforts in the community college sector.
A graduate of Florida A&M University, Mr. Lee earned his Juris Doctorate from the Rutgers University School of Law-Newark. He was admitted into the practice of law in the State of New Jersey and the United States District County of New Jersey in 2004, and in the State of New York in 2007.
Before joining McManimon, Scotland & Baumann Mr. Lee served as a law clerk for the Honorable Darryl Dean Donohue of the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands - St. Croix Division. Mr. Lee was a Senior Financial Analyst in the Animal Health Division of Pfizer.
Mr. Lee is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., having served as a past President of the Jersey City graduate chapter. He was named as a Super Lawyers Magazine Rising Star in each year since 2009.
HCCC Board of Trustees Chair William J. Netchert, Esq. said: “The HCCC Board of Trustees congratulates Bakari Lee on being elected to this national post. His dedication to learning about the needs of our community colleges — and most importantly, our students — is exemplary and we are proud to count him as our colleague and our friend.”
“Everyone at the College is immensely proud of Mr. Lee,” stated HCCC President Dr. Glen Gabert. “We applaud his efforts in highlighting the importance of community colleges in general, and the accomplishments of Hudson County Community in particular. Our best wishes to him for continuing success.”