D. Michael Lyles

Mr. Lyles currently serves as the Executive Director for the Prince George’s County Human Relations Commission in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In this position, he manages the staff of the Commission and brings enforcement action against violators of the County’s laws prohibiting unlawful discrimination in the areas of housing, employment, law enforcement misconduct, education, real estate transactions, financial lending, and public accommodations. Since taking the helm in June of 2011, he has rebranded the agency, improved access to a large Latino population and reconstituted investigations from top to bottom, and developed a Civil Rights Fellowship Program to leverage talent from across the D.C. region interested in working in the civil rights arena. He also leads the agency’s outreach efforts by developing and presenting seminars and trainings on the agency’s mission, civil rights and human relations. In July 2013, the County Council established a task force focused on combatting human trafficking locally and appointed Lyles as its co-chair. As co-chair he leads the County’s efforts in coordinating county, state and federal partners in a joint response to fighting sex and labor trafficking in the County and is considered by many as one of the leaders in this work today in Maryland.

From 2006 to 2011 he served as a trial attorney with the Department of Defense, representing the interests of the Department in Industrial Security Clearance cases. Prior to that, he served in the Prince George’s County Office of Law as a Senior Associate County Attorney in the major litigation section and from 1996 to 1998 served a stint as Deputy General Counsel for the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency. In private law practice, Michael has advised a variety of high value commercial clients on business issues and in business litigation. As a community champion, Lyles has been invited to serve on numerous boards and community advisory groups, currently serving as Chairman of the Bowie State University Board of Visitors, the Dean’s Board of Advisors for the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of the District of Columbia. He is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and in 2014 was elected to serve on its volunteer international board of directors as Grand Counselor, managing the legal affairs of the organization. In 2010, he completed a one-year stint as Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, while simultaneously serving as its General Counsel. He was twice overwhelmingly elected city councilman in the City of Bowie, Maryland from 2004 through 2007 where, along with his colleagues, he oversaw the City’s then $30 million budget. Lyles is also an in-demand public speaker and commentator on law, civil rights, politics, and business regionally and nationally.

Michael attended Iowa State University and the University of the District of Columbia where he received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in finance. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is licensed to practice in all courts of the District of Columbia and Maryland and before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is also a committed jazz guitarist in his spare time.