Youth Justice Leadership Institute Coordinator at National Juvenile Justice Network - Washington, DC, us
The National Juvenile Justice Network leads a membership community of 60 state-based organizations and numerous individuals across 42 states and D.C. We all seek to shrink our youth justice systems and transform the remainder into systems that treat youth and families with dignity and humanity. The only organization of its kind in the United States, NJJN is a membership-led organization that exists to support and enhance the work of state-based juvenile justice advocates, and to join and raise their voices in demanding change both locally and nationally. Through education, technical assistance, community-building and leadership development, NJJN provides strategic and substantive assistance to state-based change agents to help them address a wide array of juvenile justice reform needs.Our work is premised on the fundamental understanding that our youth justice systems are inextricably bound with the systemic and structural racism that defines our society; as such we seek to change policy and practice through an anti-racist lens by building power with those who are most negatively affected by our justice systems, including young people, their families and all people of color. We also recognize that other vulnerable populations - including LGBTQIA+, those with disabilities and mental illness, girls and immigrants - are disparately and negatively impacted by our justice systems, and thus we also seek to center their concerns in our policy change work.