Michele Cober
Executive Director of External Affairs & Strategic Alliances, Verizon
Michele Cober is Executive Director of External Affairs & Strategic Alliances at Verizon where she manages strategic relationships with certain third party organizations representing various civil and human rights interests. Prior to this role, she was an attorney in Verizon’s Federal Regulatory & Public Policy Group, advocating on behalf of the company at the Federal Communications Commission, focusing on wireline telecommunications, cable, and media issues. She also represented Verizon in court, defending the company in litigation.
She graduated cum laude from Howard University School of Law where she was Executive Publications Editor of the Howard Law Journal. After graduating from law school, she served as a law clerk in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and went on to join the litigation groups at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Hogan Lovells LLP. Her wide ranging practice included complex commercial disputes, construction law, healthcare and health insurance conflicts, education matters, and employment discrimination claims. From 2014-2018, she was named one of Super Lawyer’s Washington D.C. “Rising Stars” in civil litigation.
She continues to maintain an active pro bono practice, with a focus on criminal justice reform. Ms. Cober also enjoys volunteering to help serve the needs of children, advance the arts, and diversify the legal profession. She is on the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Governance Committee for Washington Performing Arts; Executive Board of the Twelve Days of Christmas, Inc., DC Metro Chapter; volunteer Legal Counsel for the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts; and is Co-Chair of the Judicial Practice Committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association.
Ms. Cober also has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Music in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park. She regularly performs with the Washington National Opera and Maryland Lyric in Washington, D.C.