Meet Sean

Sean Perryman has spent his entire life fighting for equity, fairness and transparency in government. He is the youngest president in the 102-year history of the Fairfax County NAACP. In this organization, he has been a leader on addressing the school to prison pipeline, affordable housing, and worker protections during the coronavirus pandemic.

A frequent speaker and author on race, equity, and police & criminal justice reform, Sean is also an acknowledged leader and speaker for equity in technology and artificial intelligence policy.

Sean’s dad was an immigrant from Barbados and his mom a child of segregated South Carolina. He is the first member of his immediate family to go to college, paying for it himself with part-time jobs, all while serving in student government and co-hosting a radio show. After graduating cum laude, and with experience from internships in the Office of the Mayor of New York City, the United Nations, and the State Department under his belt, Sean went on to earn a law degree from Vanderbilt University. While at Vanderbilt, he successfully advocated for legislation against human trafficking in Tennessee.

As an attorney, Sean practiced civil litigation at large law firms in Dallas and Washington D.C., pursuing cases and advising big companies on issues like insurance coverage, regulatory compliance, and business disputes. When his firm was hired to represent Donald Trump in a lawsuit against chef Jose Andres, he quit in protest because even before the 2016 election, he knew he wanted no part of Trump's worldview or enterprise.

Sean found an outstanding proving ground for the pursuit of his values in the office of Congressman Elijah Cummings, where he served as counsel on the House Oversight Committee. Sean advised members of congress and became a subject matter expert on policy regarding emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

With Trump in the White House, Sean unearthed and investigated one of the first signs of corruption in the Administration: Michael Flynn’s unconstitutional and illegal payments from the Russian government. This finding would be just one of many to shed light on the deep corruption and unlawfulness within the Trump Administration.

In 2018, hired as the first director of Social Impact and Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Policy at the Internet Association (IA), Sean assumed responsibility for guiding policymaking at the state and federal level on issues concerning diversity and inclusion, artificial intelligence, immigration, and all matters related to the sharing (gig) economy.

Sean oversaw the first-of-its-kind benchmark survey report that IA released tracking D&I practices across the industry. He also leads the association’s racial justice initiative, which demands comprehensive police reform nationwide.

Sean and his family reside in northern Virginia. He’s proud to call this his community and he strives to give back to it every day.