NAACP Assistant General Counsel Khyla D. Craine has been chosen as a recipient of the National Bar Association’s (NBA) Top 40 under 40 Advocates, an annual award recognizing the nation’s top young lawyers who exemplify a broad range of high achievement in the legal field, including social advocacy, innovation, vision, leadership and overall legal and community involvement.

She, along with the other recipients of the National Bar Association’s 40 under 40 Awards, were honored at a special celebration this summer during the association’s 91st Annual Convention in St. Louis, MO.

As counsel in the NAACP’s legal department, the Ann Arbor, MI native and graduate of Howard University School of Law and South Carolina State University travels across the nation as a guest speaker and panelist on a wide range of socially conscious topics.

“Khyla truly exemplifies the diligence, expertise and work ethic needed to achieve the goals and socially conscious endeavors of the NAACP,” notes Cornell William Brooks, NAACP president and CEO.

“As president of the NAACP college chapter at South Carolina State, youth representative on the NAACP National Youth Works Committee and as a 2011 NAACP Kellogg Law Fellow, her long and passionate commitment to the NAACP and civil rights advocacy is an invaluable asset to the association. We’re proud of this recognition of her outstanding work and appreciate the hope and enthusiasm she embodies as a member of the next generation of civil rights leaders,” he adds.

“Khyla is a superstar civil rights lawyer whose commitment to the cause of equality is obvious to everyone who works with her,” states Bradford Berry, NAACP general counsel. “She’s a tremendous asset to the NAACP legal department and is entirely deserving of this high honor.”