Mr. Perry is the 6th Executive Director of the National Dental Association, a role in which he continues advancing the interests of the socially disadvantaged and politically disenfranchised as an advocate for health equity.
A native Washingtonian, Perry is a graduate of Morehouse College and Howard University School of Law. Perry began his career as a Legislative Bill Drafter in the Maryland General Assembly and Legislative Counsel for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He was twice elected an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the District of Columbia and was elected three times to the D.C. Democratic State Committee. He was appointed by the Mayor of the District of Colombia as Member of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and served as Treasurer of the 1990 Sharon Pratt Dixon for Mayor Campaign. In 1991 he was appointed Special Assistant to the Director of the D.C. Department of Human Rights and Minority Business Development making him one of the youngest senior Mayoral appointees in the city’s history.
He’s served as Chief of Staff to two D.C. Councilmembers and for more than a decade has been a senior nonprofit executive, serving as Executive Director for numerous social justice-oriented membership organizations and associations, including the National Bar Association. He maintains a range of interests, including as a published writer and as Adjunct Professor of Ethics, Civic Engagement and the Capstone at the University of the District of Columbia.