Chanel T. Rowe

Chanel T. Rowe is an accomplished lawyer, entrepreneur, community leader, and philanthropist. Currently, she serves as Senior Counsel at Johnson & Johnson, where she focuses on litigation policy and litigation risk mitigation.

Previously, Ms. Rowe has led legal departments as the Founder and Managing Partner of her own law firm and as General Counsel and Partner at a global FinTech company facilitating the sale of over $1 Billion in securities. Prior to that, she served as Enforcement Counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Judicial Law Clerk to a Senior Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Ms. Rowe started her legal career as a Litigation Associate at two AmLaw 100 law firms. She graduated as the Valedictorian of her FIU College of Law class, where she served as the Executive Business Editor of the FIU Law Review. She finished summa cum laude from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Business Administration where she tutored at-risk students in mathematics and economics courses.

Throughout her career, Ms. Rowe has demonstrated a commitment to education, leadership, and mentorship. She has held several leadership roles on the FIU Alumni Association Board of Directors, including Vice President. She has served on several Florida Bar committees and is a past chair of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers’ Mentoring Committee. 

In 2021, Ms. Rowe became the first Black woman appointed to the FIU Board of Trustees and the youngest trustee in the history of the State University System of Florida to be confirmed by the Florida Senate. As a Trustee, Ms. Rowe oversees the Audit and Compliance Committee. Ms. Rowe is also the newest member of the Board of Directors for the SEED School of Miami, a public college-prep boarding school for underserved students.

In 2024, Ms. Rowe established the Trustee Chanel T. Rowe Judicial Externship Scholarship and Book Award at the FIU College of Law for high-performing law students with a lower socioeconomic status from a single-parent home or a first-generation college graduate. The scholarship provides a stipend for students to intern with a federal or state court judge. The book award provides support for materials. Ms. Rowe hopes the experiential learning provided by the scholarship will encourage recipients to consider a career as a judge or judicial law clerk.

Ms. Rowe has been recognized by various local and national organizations for her achievements including, the 2024 Donor Next Door Award, Florida Trend Magazine Rising Executives List, the 2023 National Bar Association Presidential Rising Star Award, Miami-Dade Bar Association Top 40 Under 40 Award, The American Lawyer 2021 Trailblazer Award, and has been listed as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2017 and 2023. Earlier this year, Ms. Rowe was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, a distinction held by only 6% of lawyers.