Awo Sarpong Ansu is Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), one of the nation’s largest public universities serving adult learners, military servicemembers, veterans, and their families around the world. She provides strategic legal counsel to senior leadership on matters including labor and employment, discrimination, disability and accessibility, Title IX, civil rights, student affairs, governance, contracts, and international operations. Awo also serves as an Adjunct Professor in UMGC’s Legal Studies program, where she teaches Legal Writing and Introduction to Law, mentoring students to think critically about the intersection of law, equity, and policy. Her leadership has been central to major institutional initiatives, including UMGC’s digital accessibility compliance program, strengthening civil rights and equity policies for students and employees, and faculty governance.
Before joining UMGC, Awo spent more than fifteen years with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, serving in multiple leadership roles including Special Assistant to EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien during the Obama Administration. She has also worked in government agencies and private practice in both New York City and Washington, D.C., advising on complex employment and civil rights matters.
Originally from Ghana and a proud graduate of the New York City public schools, Awo earned her B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.