ARTE (Art & Resistance Through Education) amplifies the voices of young people for human rights change through the visual arts. Twitter / FB / IG: artejustice

BAC’s mission is building the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities to dismantle the systems that perpetuate racism through the power of storytelling and the leadership of people directly affected.

The Center for Institutional and Social Change (CISC) at Columbia Law School builds the capacity of networks, institutions and individuals to understand the multi-level systems that limit access and full participation, to identify strategies and leverage points for catalyzing and sustaining change.

For over 20 years, College & Community Fellowship (CCF) has supported women with criminal justice involvement while obtaining college degrees and leadership skills that promote self-efficacy and civic engagement. CCF addresses barriers to reentry on the individual, institutional, and systemic levels, serving 650+ people across all three program areas: College & Career, THRIVE Technical Assistance, and Policy & Advocacy.

Dances for Solidarity is a project that co-creates choreography with people who are incarcerated across the United States by way of written dance scores traded through the mail. These written movements are then translated into live performances danced by people who have returned home from prison, creating an embodied narrative that moves through the American carceral system.

Instagram: @solidaritydance
Twitter: @solidaritydance
Facebook: facebook.com/dancesforsolidarity

Drama Club’s mission is to consistently care for youth—especially those who are incarcerated and court-involved—by creating space for them to thrive, using improv as their guide.

Echoes of Incarceration is an award-winning documentary initiative produced by youth who are directly impacted by the criminal justice system. The project provides hands-on video production and advocacy training for young adults, and creates documentaries and video journalism pieces told from the life experiences of the filmmakers themselves.

Exodus Transitional Community (Exodus) is a leading preventative, reentry and advocacy organization with 15 sites City/State-wide, including 6 Reentry Hotels and offices on Rikers Island. With an annual budget of over $33 million and a staff size of over 300 (80% of whom are directly impacted by incarceration), we deliver innovative programming tailored to adults and youth affected by the justice system, and advocate for a society in which all can achieve social, economic, and spiritual well-being.

Freedom Agenda is a member-led project, dedicated to organizing people and communities directly impacted by incarceration to achieve decarceration and system transformation.

The National Council was founded in 2010 by a group of women incarcerated in federal prison in Danbury, CT. The organization works to end the criminal legal system's forced separation of women and girls from their communities and loved ones through hyper-local organizing, public awareness education, movement lawyering, and the national #FreeHer Campaign.

Our mission was and still is, to end the incarceration of women and girls.

We provide critical advocacy and direct support to currently and formerly incarcerated people serving life sentences, and seek to transform the parole release process in New York State.

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization created and led by formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison who work to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences.

Recess partners with artists to build a more just and equitable creative community. By welcoming radical thinkers to imagine and shape networks of resilience and safety, Recess defines and advances the possibilities of contemporary art. Our programs offer space and resources to generate art, ideas and actions that challenge dominant narratives and activate new forms. Recess is always free and open to the public to serve as a meeting place for meaningful exchange across a multiplicity of communities.

RTA helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts, modeling an approach to the justice system based on human dignity rather than punishment.

The Survivors Justice Project (SJP) is a collective of activists, lawyers, social workers, students, and researchers—many of whom are survivors of domestic violence and long-term incarceration—housed at Brooklyn Law School, working for the decarceration of domestic violence survivors by ensuring robust implementation and expansion of the New York State Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA).

Survived & Punished New York (S&P NY) is an all-volunteer organization committed to ending the criminalization of survivors of gender-based violence, as well as to the abolition of the prison industrial complex in all its forms. Our members are survivors, including currently and formerly incarcerated survivors, as well as their allies and supporters. Twitter: @survivepunishNY Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/survivepunishNY

The Theater for Social Change Ensemble (TSC) is comprised of formerly incarcerated women who earned their college degrees post-release. TSC members write and perform original pieces about their experiences with incarceration and education, touching on themes ranging from community disinvestment to redemption to discrimination in the workplace.

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC partners with communities facing discrimination to devise and perform plays based on their challenges confronting inequality and injustices. After each performance, actors and audiences engage in interactive theatrical brainstorming – called Forum Theatre – with the aim of live practicing interventions and solutions for social change.

Touchdown NYC provides Individualized mentorship support to system impacted individuals returning to NYC. We believe that system impacted individuals have the agency to govern their lives and make valuable contributions to their community. Their valuable insights and lived experience qualify them to be leaders in the criminal justice space and advocates for social change.

We advocate for a just, fair and decent society and mentor the next generation of social justice leaders. OR- FROM SITE BROCHURE True pioneers often set out with limited resources, no clear path, and no instructions. Nonetheless, they move boldly forward. In 1984, we began in much the same way: working from a burned out building in East Harlem with almost no funding. We arrived at soup kitchens, jails, and shelters—places others would not go—and set up free legal clinics to meet our clients on their terms. As we expanded, we brought in the next generation of organizers and change makers, to battle fresh injustices and bring new solutions to intractable issues. Today, the Urban Justice Center provides a platform for dynamic advocates to fuel social change, leading the way for a just, fair, and decent society. Through our Anchor Projects, we provide everything from legal support to survivors of domestic violence, to organizing assistance for sex workers and street vendors. Through our Social Justice Accelerator, we assist leaders of tomorrow turning great ideas into flourishing advocacy organizations.

Urban Word champions, centers, elevates young marginalized voices as leaders at the intersection of the literary arts and civic engagement. Through the  transformative power of the written and spoken word, Urban Word  provides young, creative voices, often those that are marginalized, the tools, training, and platforms to rewrite the narratives that shape their lives and their communities.

Vera brings together experts, activists, and policymakers to end mass incarceration. We provide trusted data and research illustrating the harms of mass incarceration, help change state and local laws, and work with prosecutors to reduce incarceration and racial disparities. Together, with allies from across the political spectrum and around the country, we can end mass incarceration, build safer communities, and affirm human dignity.