Tracey Edwards leaves post as longtime regional director of NAACP to take key position with state organization

Tracey Edwards, the NAACP's Long Island regional director, is resigning from the post this week to take on a statewide role within the venerable civil rights group.

Edwards is set to become the state NAACP’s first vice president next week. Her successor is also expected to be named later this week.

Edwards, 64, served as regional director for 22 years, where she guided 10 Long Island branches including those in Hempstead, Huntington and Freeport, according to the NAACP. During her tenure as regional director, the branches have worked on issues such as education, housing, and police reform, she said.

Now, Edwards, a former telecom executive who currently chairs the Long Island Power Authority’s board of trustees, is hoping to parlay her professional achievement and activism into the new role where she seeks to increase fundraising while working to shape housing, health care, criminal justice and other statewide policy.

"I'm committed to continue to do this work, because I love Long Island. I love New York State, and I want my three children and my three grandchildren, and everybody else’s children and grandchildren to have an opportunity for fairness and growth and prosperity in New York," Edwards said in a phone interview with Newsday on Monday.

Throughout her career, Edwards has held several roles, including regional president at Verizon Communications, where she retired in 2015 after working there for more than 35 years, the NAACP said. She was also a member of the state Public Service Commission, a body tasked with overseeing utilities such as steam, electric, and telecommunications, the state said. She was a member of the Huntington Town Council and served on the 2021 Suffolk Police Reform Taskforce. 

Currently, Edwards serves as Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which has dropped a plan to construct a multi-billion casino resort on the Nassau Coliseum’s site, Newsday reported earlier this year.

Even with her other career and civic achievements, the NAACP is cherished by  Edwards, who lives in Dix Hills with her husband. Her mother, community organizer Dolores "Dee" Thompson, and former NAACP’s New York State Conference president Hazel Dukes were instrumental in her taking on the regional director role.

"I grew up ... in the NAACP and have had various roles, so it does have a special place in my heart," she said.

Although times have changed, Edwards insists, there is more work to be done on Long Island and beyond, including increasing voter turnout to ensure that elected officials are held accountable.

"The work is far from finished," she said.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.