David Sheppard joined the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) in January 2018 after having previously served as Vice President, Legal and Government Affairs & General Counsel at Delaware State University, a TMCF Member-School. In his role with TMCF, David manages all legal affairs for the organization, including business transactions, litigation, intellectual property, labor and employment and regulatory matters. David also oversees human resource matters for TMCF. In addition, David leads TMCF’s Government Relations team, which regularly engages with Congress and the Biden Administration on legislative and policy matters impacting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). During the 116th Congress, David and his Government Relations team was successful in facilitating the passage of the FUTURE Act, which, among other things, provides $850 million of mandatory Title III funding to HBCUs over the next 10 years, and in securing the passage of the HBCU PARTNERS Act which mandates the development of annual plans by federal agencies to increase their engagement with HBCUs and gives Congress oversight to ensure federal agency compliance with this effort. Finally, David serves as Secretary to the TMCF Board of Directors, and in this capacity is responsible for, among other things, the planning and execution of annual meetings of the Board of Directors, as well as periodic meetings of the standing Board Committees.
With over 20 years of experience in the law, David has developed expertise in various areas of the law, including litigation, business transactions, employment law and labor relations, intellectual property law, regulatory law and, most recently, Higher Education law. And beyond his current regular interaction with Members of Congress and Executive Branch administrators, David also has years of experience working in and around state and county government in the State of Delaware.
David earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and International Relations from the University of Notre Dame in 1995 and his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University School of Law in 1999. David is a native of Delaware, and he, his wife and son live in Wilmington, Delaware.