Walter Fields is Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs for the Community Service Society, responsible for overseeing the agency’s legislative agenda, and determining its political and communications strategy. He rejoined CSS in 2005 after a 14-year absence during which he was the principal of a New Jersey based political consulting firm, Fields Communications, established a nationally recognized black public affairs web site, thenorthstarnetwork.com and served a stint as the Director of Public Affairs for the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

In the past decade Walter has served as a consultant to both Democratic and Republican political campaigns and he has had a distinguished career as a journalist. He has served as a columnist for The Record (Bergen County, NJ), The City News, a contributing editor to The New Jersey Reporter, a monthly political quarterly, and provided commentary over NPR affiliate WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey. He was one of the original contributors on the MSNBC cable news channel and contributing columnist to MSNBC.com, and a regular roundtable contributor to the nationally syndicated “News and Notes” on National Public Radio (NPR). Walter has appeared as a guest on CNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” CNN’s “Talk Back Live,” MSNBC’s “Equal Time,” Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes,” “America’s Black Forum,” NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” “All Things Considered,” and “The Tavis Smiley Show,” “BET Tonight,” and Court TV’s “Pros & Cons,” among others.

Walter holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science from Morgan State University and an MPA in Public Policy from New York University, where he was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow and is a recipient of the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award. He also pursued postgraduate study as a National Science Foundation Fellow in Political Science at the City University of New York Graduate Center.