 During the time of civil rights activism beginning in the early 1960s, Haysbert worked to elect black politicians, including Harry Cole as Maryland's first African-American state senator.In 1983, he started the President’s Roundtable for black business leaders to meet together.Haysbert was chairman of the board of directors of the Greater Baltimore Urban League, the local affiliate of the National Urban League, until his death in 2010, helping to restore the venerable civil rights group's financial viability.