Stephen Wessler

Steve Wessler, an attorney, developed and directed the civil rights enforcement effort at the Maine Department of the Attorney General from 1992 to 1999. In 1996, Mr. Wessler developed with others the Civil Rights Teams Project, a hate violence prevention program conducted by the Attorney General’s office, which is now in over 150 Maine middle and high schools. Mr. Wessler has conducted scores of trainings on preventing hate violence to educators, students, police officers, and community members. Mr. Wessler participated in 1998 in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Working Group which developed and piloted the National Hate Crimes Training Curriculum. Mr. Wessler is a graduate of Harvard College and Boston University School of Law. He practiced law, both in the Attorney General’s office and in private practice, for over 22 years before creating the Center in 1999.