Marceline White

Marceline White

Economic Action Maryland

Moderator, Using Consumer Protection Statutes to Combat Financial Predatory Practices

An award-winning, nationally-recognized consumer advocate, Marceline serves as the Executive Director of Economic Action Maryland (formerly Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition)where she leads the coalition’s 10,000 supporters in promoting economic rights, equity, and housing justice throughout Maryland. Marceline has led the coalition’s efforts in passing four first-in-the nation bills related to for-profit colleges, medical debt, and debtors prisons. She’s authored three first-in-the nation state-level reports on for-profit colleges, debt settlement, and debt collection practices and served as the co-chair of the Consumer Protection committee of AG
Frosh’s COVID-19 Task Force.

In 2020, Marceline received the inaugural Woodside Award from the CASH Campaign, given to an individual for their work on addressing systemic economic equity issues. In 2017, Marceline won the National Association of Consumer Advocates’ “Advocate of the Year” award for her work advancing economic rights and consumer protection at the state level. In 2017, Marceline also received an Excellence in Advocacy award from the tri-state Common Cents Conference, as well as the Lorraine Sheehan Award for Excellence in Advocacy from the Community Development Network (with the CASH Campaign of Maryland ) for their work ending predatory payday loans in Maryland. In 2014, Marceline won a national award for best community film from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition for her work as producer of the consumer education film, “Stealing Trust”.

She has served as president of the board of directors of the Consumer Federation of America and as a member of the board of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. An internationally recognized expert on gender and international trade, Marceline is has written widely on the topic including chapters in Trading Women’s Health and Rights: Trade Liberalization and Reproductive Health in Developing Economies, edited by Caren Grown, Elissa Braunstein, and Anju Malhotra; and, Global Issues, Women and Justice, edited by Sharon Pickering and Caroline Lambert. Marceline is also a published essayist, poet, and writer and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net for her poetry. She holds a Masters of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.