>> I'm Dr.

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr and this is "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> For us it's all about equity in any community -- equity in rights, equity in access, equity in resources.

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following -- At Wells Fargo, we continue to look for ways to empower our customers.

We seek broad impact in our communities, and we're proud of the role we play for our customers and the U.S.

economy.

As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers and communities through housing access, small-business growth, financial health, and other community needs.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry.

Learn more, api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American -- dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

>> We are honored to have on this segment of "The Chavis Chronicles" attorney Tameka Simmons.

>> Thank you.

Thank you for having me here.

It is my esteemed pleasure to be with you today.

>> So, you're the in-house general counsel and chief compliance officer.

>> Correct.

>> Tell me what the mission is representing the legal interests of the sorority.

>> You know, when I joined Delta in 2017, we were in a pivotal moment of focusing on the corporation.

And Dr.

Paulette Walker was the president at the time, and she'd say she was focusing on the ink.

She was the alpha of that.

I think that my arrival signaled a real focus on Delta as a global enterprise.

And we are a global enterprise.

We're in multiple countries, more than nine countries around the world.

We have more than a thousand chapters across the world.

And we do work, everything from supporting orphanages in Kenya to doing work with our underprivileged and disenfranchised youth in our community.

>> Global nonprofit.

>> We're a global nonprofit, and our work is based of course in our community, in the Black community, and uplifting the community, economic empowerment and educational development and international awareness.

And our political awareness and involvement, we look at that as our social advocacy and justice and an academic achievement, right, because that's the gateway to freedom -- education.

>> Yes.

>> Really, really important to us.

And we've had more than 350,000 women initiated into our sorority.

That's quite a wingspan.

>> 350,000?

>> 350,000 women.

We are in multiple countries.

We are a global enterprise.

>> What is Delta doing, first, to protect the educational rights of all children, but particularly communities of color?

But on the whole education front, that seems to be changing.

>> Well, you know, Delta was born in the suffrage movement, in 1913.

Our very first act as a sorority was marching in the suffrage movement for rights that we could not, we as Black women could not even avail ourselves of.

And so I think that you will see consistently across the nation, we have a lot of programming that really focuses on STEM support, image-building with young women and young girls.

And we wrap our approach in that space around our advocacy, right?

So we are present at superintendent meetings.

We're present at school board meetings.

We are there at the local elections and meetings around budget.

So we encourage our members to be engaged, civic-minded.

>> So it's just not what's happening on our college campuses, it's what's going on in the community?

>> Primary.

Yes, absolutely.

For us, it's all levels of education is critically important.

And I think we take a 360-degree approach, both from legislative action, from looking at budgeting, and, then, from actually working within the community, being on the ground and making sure that we are bringing additional opportunities.

For us, it's all about equity in any community -- equity in rights, equity in access, equity in resources.

>> Share with me what some of the initiatives to challenge some of these issues when it comes to equity of civil rights.

>> I'm really proud of the work that Delta has continued to do, right?

Our Social Action Commission has been strong for years, and we have been in this space of social action for years.

What Delta did back in 2021 was take a step back and look at an opportunity to participate in a litigation.

And Sherrilyn Ifill actually came to us from the legal defense fund and said, "Listen.

We're dealing with an extraordinary response in response to the 2020 election of we're seeing a lot of restrictions on voter registration, new rules on absentee-ballot voting, line relief, spaces that are -- >> Voter suppression.

>> Voter suppression, right, redistricting.

And so we entered -- We are now in three cases.

We are in a case in Georgia.

We are in a litigation in partnership with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Georgia against SB 202.

>> Senate bill.

>> SB 202, yes.

>> In Georgia.

>> Correct.

>> And what does that bill do?

>> That bill focuses on basically making it wrong or illegal to do things that our members have done for years, like line relief.

And it imposes new identity-verification requirements.

So, these requirements made it such that the person had to write their name and their birth date on the outside of their ballot, and it had to match what -- Well, many people wrote the date that they submitted their ballot.

So that disqualified voters.

More onerous for me, lack of a better term, nitpicky kind of rules that are going to increase the likelihood that someone's vote won't be counted, interfering with line relief and expanding the zone where it makes it that you have less polling places and you have people in line for eight hours to vote and you can't give them water.

That is going to impact people's right to vote.

>> What's wrong with giving somebody a water... >> Well, they seem -- >> ...who's been out, standing on the line for 8 to 10 hours?

>> That is our position.

There is nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with that.

I think in Texas, we saw a lot of challenges to line relief.

We saw some additional I.D.

requirements.

So, the I.D.

requirements -- and admittedly the state itself said, "Well, we did have some problems when we first instituted this legislation, but we figured it out what it means along the way."

Well, that means you had some problems with your election where people were not able to vote, which means there's something wrong with this law in application.

Also had restrictions on how many people could come be in a vehicle coming to a poll and drive-through voting and the assistance, I think, in Texas.

What was really striking to me, sitting in court, listening to the testimony was the listening to the state, the individuals that work with the state that help voters who are trying to register to vote talk about their own confusion within their office about how much they could assist someone, because Texas passed some laws that made it such that basically, if you solicit, if you assisted someone in trying to help them register to vote or solicited them, and you called someone's house and say you were calling them back 'cause they said they had a problem and you asked if anybody else needed help in their house, that that could be construed to be a crime.

Well, you're also deterring people from engaging people and getting people to want to vote.

>> So that's in Texas?

>> That's in Texas.

And we're in Mississippi, too.

>> What you just described, Delta is challenging it?

>> We're a plaintiff in Texas.

>> State court or federal court?

>> In Texas, we're in federal court.

>> Okay.

How's the case going?

How does it look?

>> Texas has been really interesting.

So, we started Texas after the Georgia case, but it's moved at a faster pace.

So, we had our trial in September of 2023 in Texas.

We had our closing in 2024.

And the judge rendered his decision last fall on a number of the aspects of the case.

There's still some open points.

I think it went well there.

We saw success.

We saw success.

And the judge took great care to listen to both sides, to really -- I mean, it took quite a while I think for him to go through it, and he set up instead of doing a regular closing in the fall of 2023, he said, "I want you all to come back, and I'm going to ask some specific questions."

So I've been very pleased with the outcome of that case.

I think we had a tremendous success there.

But the problem is there's no federal protection.

There's no federal legislation that gives us the right to have equal access to voting, right?

And so you're chasing states.

>> What happened to the 1965 Voting Rights Act?

You know that's a rhetorical question.

>> Yeah.

I'm like -- >> I know the Supreme Court -- >> Right.

Gutted it.

It's been gutted, right?

And so you had the John Lewis -- I'm probably not gonna say the whole name correct.

But the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which we've spent, we partnered with the National Leadership Conference and Advocacy Day on the Hill to talk to our representatives about passing that Voting Rights Act so that we are not dealing with a situation -- It should not be up for discussion.

Why are we still having this fight here, and why are we going state by state?

We're playing Whac-A-Mole across more than 30 states.

I think it was 39 states total that passed, last I checked, restrictive legislation in response to the 2020 election.

Or in Mississippi, we're dealing with redistricting issues there.

You know, we are in the middle of a case there dealing with redistricting that dramatically impacts Black representation.

And I think it's a very -- In the absence of federal legislation, you're really asking for people to get together and go fight this state by state by state.

It's impractical, right?

It's a game of Whac-A-Mole.

So we're at a critical juncture.

I think that should be the first and foremost focus.

>> Well, congratulations on what you've done thus far.

>> Thank you.

>> Some of the victories that you won in Texas I think are significant.

>> Yes.

Huge.

>> Because when you win some of these victories in one state, it has implications for all the states.

>> It does.

>> You spoke about STEM and the importance of education.

Is Delta also placing a priority on getting more African-American women lawyers?

>> You know, that's a fantastic question.

And I think it's something that I would say probably not with a direct focus there, right?

We had a direct focus during the last election cycle.

And as we started doing this voter-protection work and training many of our members, but, then, a specific focus in training lawyers and deploying lawyers to be in election-protection spaces.

So there is a critical need, is what I want to say.

Excellent point.

And I think it's something that we can focus on.

You know, Delta is uniquely positioned.

We were able to train more than a thousand Delta attorneys last summer.

>> A thousand?

>> Yes.

And we trained more than 2,000 attorneys.

We engaged and registered more than 2,000 attorneys nationwide.

We partnered with several other organizations -- the National Bar Association -- to say, "Hey, we're doing this training, and we're pipelining them, and we're deploying them.

This is about protecting the integrity of the election."

So I do think Delta is uniquely positioned to help pipeline that.

>> Is it your conclusion that these initiatives can be successfully challenged in the state and federal courts?

>> I think they can.

The problem is you are playing, like I said, a game of Whac-A-Mole.

And that, also, requires resources.

And when I say resources, I mean human capital.

I mean financial capital.

I mean the buy-in in from the media.

I mean, when Delta embarked on this, I really am so proud of the organization, because we've been doing the work for a long time.

So it was not a stretch for us to go into Texas.

Our sorors, our members in Texas have been at these meetings, at the local meetings, advocating against this particularly restrictive legislation.

They've been on the record.

So it was easy for us to show, "Listen, we have standing.

We are here."

I think the challenge is to, like you said, does Kentucky know what Texas is doing?

Do people know?

Do people have awareness?

So I do think that it's just it's something that can be won, but it has to be done with partnership and others, and with the focus on education and making people be invested in situations that don't apply to where they live.

Like, Texas should care about what happens in Michigan, and Michigan should care about what happens in Tennessee, because it could be your state.

And I do think we're quite disenfranchised there.

>> Tell me what you think are the three top issues facing your sorority today.

>> The same thing that I think works in our favor.

We are one Delta.

So making sure we are clear that we are one Delta, making sure that the external -- >> That means unity.

>> Amongst all of us.

Amongst all of us.

And I say that we are one Delta, and really we are one people, the Divine Nine, right?

We are in a time where we cannot afford to be separated or at odds.

We're not in competition.

I love all my sisters, of all sororities and all my sisters generally.

So I think we have to be open, so that's the we are one.

I think the challenge is making sure the world understands who we are and the work we do.

Right?

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day.

And I was talking.

We don't talk about work a lot, but I was talking about some work I was doing on the Mississippi case.

And they just stopped and looked at me, and they said, "I mean, we are close friends.

I've been around you for years.

I did not know that you all were doing that work."

So I do think it's important that people know the spaces we're in, the amount of scholarships that we give every year.

But we're not just giving scholarships.

We're not just doing image-building.

We're teaching STEM.

We're teaching STEAM.

We're doing social advocacy.

We are in, like, the robust nature of our business.

And, then, for me, it's just maintaining line of sight in the global enterprise that we are.

That's the third thing -- maintaining a firm understanding and line of sight and the fact that Delta is a global enterprise.

So I do think that we are in a lot of different spaces.

We serve many different communities, and our members are diverse.

We have members of all cultures with a shared mission.

>> Now, the second part of your title is Chief Compliance Officer.

>> Yes.

>> Explain for our viewers what is compliance?

How does a sorority stay in compliance?

>> Well, if you think about it, right, that's a great question.

When I say we're in all of these countries, all these countries have their own rules, their own laws around how we transact and do business there.

We here in the United States have to follow the laws of the government, the local government, and how we transact and do business.

You have to file reports.

You need to track certain activities.

So compliance part of that, a large part of compliance is governance, corporate governance, and maintaining and making sure we're moving and best in practice in our corporate governance.

And how we're conducting our business at a board level is critically important, because the board is responsible for the oversight of this worry, but the board is also responsible for the strategic direction of the sorority.

So providing that support so that they have the tools they need, the resources they need in order to do that, and then for it to marry and match at a headquarters level where we, the headquarters, manages the operation, it has to be a seamless -- it has to work seamlessly.

And I think that this department is critical in that.

>> So you're a Howard University law graduate?

>> Yes, I am.

Very proud.

>> How do you see the legal landscape right now?

Over the last two to three years, there have been some very high-profile women attorney generals, district attorneys, Supreme Court justices.

Is there a brighter future for women attorneys from your perspective?

>> Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I think that -- Listen.

I mean, I did not intend on ever practicing law.

Let me say that.

When I went to law school, I said I was not going to practice law.

>> Why did you go law school if you didn't want to practice?

>> You want the truth?

The truth is, I was working a dotcom, and it was the dotcom bubble burst, and our investors pulled out.

And I said, "Oh.

I need to go to grad school.

I need to go earn another degree while this situation and the economy sorts itself out."

And my two CEOs said, "We really think you should go to law school."

Both of them had gone, had attended law school, and were now on the business side.

And I said, "I don't want law school.

I want to go to business school."

They said, "You should go to law school.

You can come back and do the business.

But you, getting to know, you should go to law school."

They encouraged me.

I applied to two schools.

I got into both.

I received a full ride from Howard.

And that is where I went.

And, then, I fell in love with the law.

I fell in love with it while I was in school.

I fell in love with the ability to advocate.

You know, Howard says -- We would talk about "You're a social engineer or a social parasite."

I went and worked at big law.

I did private mergers and acquisitions and private equity and hedge-fund formation and advisement.

But to be able to then apply that to small Black, midsize Black and brown businesses, was the most rewarding piece.

To be able to apply that level of experience to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated is a gift.

>> So it's a good thing you went through.

>> It's a good thing I went to law school.

>> Well, as general counsel, you have a lot... >> I do.

>> ...to make sure they're in compliance.

>> Yes, I do.

Yes, I do.

>> So, do you enjoy your work?

>> I do.

You know, it's one of those jobs that I took, and there was -- If you start in a job and you're the first, you're building it.

You're defining what it is.

You're educating people about who you are, how to use your learning, who the organization is, and what they really need.

I feel very, very good about the work that I've been able to do, standing on the shoulders of giants.

I have two amazing mentors -- the legal advisor and the chair of the Council of Legal Advisors, who have really been very supportive and helping me get the resources that I need and the support I need to do the critical legal work of Delta.

I love it.

And the reason I love it is because even if I have a hard day -- and I do have hard days -- even when I haven't slept for many, many nights, whatever, how difficult my day is, I know that someone has access to education, someone has equity and a vote, someone has a meal because of the disaster-relief work that we do, someone has the ability to think about a future and hope because of the work that Delta does.

They have knowledge in healthcare because of who we are and because of what we do.

And to me, that's the most rewarding thing.

If you can go to sleep at night, knowing that you're using your gifts to make somebody else's life better, what else could I ask for?

>> We live in a society where there's a focus renewed on entrepreneurism, going into business for themselves.

From your perspective, there are a number of Deltas who are going into business, owning their own businesses.

>> Yes.

And we're very supportive of that.

And we're supportive, even if you look in the model of how we license and we use our trademarks, we have a certified -- We call them certified vendors, our partners that can license our trademarks and use them to do goods, merchandise.

That is supporting their small businesses.

There are many of them who had careers.

Either their careers were truncated, or they decided they were doing really well and were able to allow them to have some autonomy and financial freedom.

And that, we do a lot of work in financial literacy, as well.

>> Very good.

>> Because an entrepreneur -- I've worked with a lot of entrepreneurs.

When I left Wall Street, I worked with small to midsize businesses.

And what I found was they were working so hard to start their business and make profit.

But there's good governance rules, good financial literacy rules.

I think Delta is very supportive of that in the community.

I'm really proud of the work.

>> What gives you your greatest hope today for the future?

>> Honestly, it's the children.

Like, I look at kids.

And when I'm talking about youth, I have a nephew.

He's 7 years old.

He is so bright.

He is so extraordinary.

I'm convinced he is the next person to change the world.

And so for me, that gives me hope, because I feel a call to action to create and help maintain the best world and the best possible circumstances for him and my niece, Kenna, and, like, all of them and make sure they have the same or better opportunity.

See, that's what worries me, right?

Like, you always think you want them to have a better opportunity.

We're in a challenging time.

So I stay hopeful for that reason, because if I give up hope, then what do they have to look forward to?

>> Attorney Tameka Simmons, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having me.

It's been my pleasure.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, visit our website at TheChavisChronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, we continue to look for ways to empower our customers.

We seek broad impact in our communities, and we're proud of the role we play for our customers and the U.S.

economy.

As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers and communities through housing access, small-business growth, financial health, and other community needs.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute.

Our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry.

Learn more, api.org/apienergyexcellence.

Reynolds American -- dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

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