by Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
July 11, 2025

Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang has resigned from the nonprofit after serving in the role for five years.

SPLC announced Huang’s resignation in a statement on Thursday. The release from the civil rights organization said Huang planned to focus more on her family.

“Margaret has led SPLC with deep care, clarity and conviction, guiding us through moments of growth and moments of challenge,” said Karen Baynes-Dunning, the current chair of the SPLC Board of Directors, in a statement. “Her legacy is woven into the fabric of this organization, and we are well positioned in part because of her leadership.”

Bryan Fair, a former board chair and constitutional scholar at the University of Alabama, will succeed Huang as the leader of the organization on an interim basis.

“The board is confident that he will provide steady, familiar and thoughtful leadership throughout the transition and as a national search for a new leader is conducted. With his guidance, the center remains grounded in its values and prepared to meet the future with strength and purpose,” Baynes-Dunning said in the statement.

A message was sent to SPLC on Friday seeking additional comment.

Huang, previously executive director of Amnesty International USA, took the reins of the organization in 2020 after a year of turmoil. The organization ousted co-founder Morris Dees in 2019 amid questions about racial and gender equity in the SPLC. Dees’ ouster was followed by the resignation of several top SPLC executives.

As CEO, Huang tried to steer SPLC to include community organizing in its mission, particularly as an increasingly conservative judiciary made its litigation strategies more difficult. As part of that effort, it has hosted training sessions for individuals and organizations to train them on how to advocate and organize.

But SPLC announced in June 2024 that it would lay off employees in what the organization characterized as “streamlining operations.” SPLC’s employee union indicated that at least 60 people had lost their jobs due to$13 million deficit.

That September, the union overwhelmingly approved a no-confidence motion regarding Huang’s leadership.

A message was sent to the SPLC Union Friday seeking comment.

Fair, the interim CEO, will take leave from the University of Alabama while serving in the role. He has taught constitutional law for 34 years at the law school while also previously serving as a member of several other nonprofits, from the Equal Justice Initiative to Alabama Appleseed.

According to SPLC’s most recent 990 filing, the organization had $129 million in revenue between Nov. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2024, down from $169.8 million in revenue the previous year. It reported expenses of $128.9 million for the period, and total assets of $786.7 million on Oct. 31, 2024.

Huang’s reported compensation from the organization that year was just under $467,000, with another $55,806 listed as “other compensation from the organization and related organizations.”

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

The post Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang resigns appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning

This article reports on leadership changes at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a well-known civil rights nonprofit typically associated with progressive and left-leaning causes. The tone is largely neutral and factual, outlining organizational challenges, financial details, and leadership transitions without overt editorializing. However, the focus on civil rights, social justice efforts, and the framing of SPLC’s mission to include community organizing reflects values generally aligned with left-leaning perspectives. The absence of criticism or partisan framing maintains journalistic balance, though the subject matter itself is rooted in progressive advocacy.

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St. Clair county leaders hoping to sell old jail

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