R. Daniel Okonkwo, Esq.

Okonkwo headshot

R. Daniel Okonkwo, Esq. is an attorney and public policy expert with significant experience in the policy, advocacy, the nonprofit sectors. Daniel is an Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase where he serves as the Corporate Responsibility Market Strategy Lead for the Mid-Atlantic Region. In this role, Daniel is responsible for the development and implementation of Corporate Responsibility strategies that are aligned with firmwide business strategy in the region.

Daniel has held multiple leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase. Prior to his current role, he was the East Region Executive for the JPMorgan Chase Foundation where he provided strategic guidance for a team of place-based Program Officers and managed the Foundation’s market-based philanthropic investments on the East Coast. Daniel has also been a Vice President (Market Manager) on the Community Engagement team where he was responsible for building relationships with key stakeholders, grantmaking in the Mid-Atlantic region, and managing a national grant portfolio focused on nonprofit capacity building and civil rights organizations.

Daniel came to JPMorgan Chase from Ballast Research where he advised Fortune 500 companies on their federal and state advocacy. Prior to Ballast Research, Daniel was a founding member and the Executive Director of D.C. Lawyers for Youth (DCLY), a policy and advocacy organization that worked to reform the District’s youth justice system. While working to start DCLY, Daniel was a Senior Consultant in the Regulatory Practice Group at the EOP Group, Inc., a lobbying and political consulting firm. He started his career as a trial attorney in the Office of the Public Defender in Miami, FL where he represented clients in the County Court Division and Felony Drug Court. Prior to entering law school, Daniel had an accomplished career as a professional basketball player.

Daniel has extensive ties to local and national nonprofit networks and municipal leaders. He is currently a board member of Juvenile Law Center, a national legal and policy organization. He has served as an appointee to the District’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, the Safer Stronger DC Advisory Committee, the Non-Profit Advisory Committee, and most recently, the Commission on Health Equity. Daniel also values supporting local nonprofits and has been a board member of the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, Advocates for Justice in Education, the WAMU (88.5FM) Community Council, and the National Juvenile Justice Network.

Daniel received his J.D. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Yale University.