OUR STORY
The National Black Women’s Justice Institute is a Black women-led nonprofit. We research, elevate, and educate the public about innovative, community-led solutions to end the criminalization of Black women and girls.
We envision a society that respects, values, and honors the humanity of Black women & girls, trans and gender nonconforming youth, and takes accountability for the harm it inflicts on our community.
Our work over the past decade has been driven by our commitment to promote healing as true justice.
Join Our
"$100 for 10 Years of NBWJI” Challenge
When you donate to NBWJI, your gift helps us:
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Support Black girls in leadership roles. Our work to end school pushout and support youth survivors is guided by the perspectives of Black girls and young adults. We offer stipends to youth who serve on our youth advisory committees to share insight, provide feedback, and lead youth participatory research to ensure that our work centers the perspectives and needs of Black girls. We are focused on raising $25,000 for these youth stipends.
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Strengthen reentry services and resources for Black women leaving confinement and returning to their communities. Through our Sisters in Solidarity Reentry Network, we provide a collaborative space where members learn and share from one another, and we provide technical assistance to members who are championing the movement for culturally-affirming, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed reentry services for women. We offer grants to members to support them in advancing mission-driven initiatives. We aim to raise $100,000 to bring on 10 more members next year and beyond.
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Conduct research and data analysis that centers the lived experiences of Black women and girls who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. The research and data analysis we provide—such as our School Pushout Data Hub or our groundbreaking study about the health needs of Black women leaving incarceration—is critical for advocates, organizations, and policymakers seeking to develop and implement programmatic and policy solutions that meet the needs of Black women and girls. We are raising $75,000 for our 10th anniversary to support 10 more years of transformative research and capacity building that brings the lived experiences of Black women and girls who have been impacted by the criminal legal system to the forefront.
A Look Back:
Celebrating 10 Years of Centering Black Women and Girls in Research and Healing-Centered Justice
Dr. Monique Couvson founds the National Black Women’s Justice Institute.
Sydney McKinney becomes the Executive Director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute.
We publish the findings from our groundbreaking study about the health needs of Black women after incarceration. It examines how formerly incarcerated Black women access healthcare services, the barriers they face in trying to access those services, their healthcare needs, and the impact of incarceration on their health.
The National Black Women’s Justice Institute partners with the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women to build the capacity of technical assistance providers who serve African American/African Diaspora communities across the country to reduce domestic/intimate partner violence and sexual assault in those communities.
We launched our Book Club conversations to spotlight books by Black women that highlight the real impact of incarceration on Black women and girls.
We launch our Sisters in Solidarity Reentry Network to support the leadership of formerly incarcerated Black women championing the movement for culturally-affirming, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed reentry services for women and girls.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley introduces the Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-Based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma (PUSHOUT) Act. This legislation is designed to disrupt the school-to-confinement pathway by investing in safe and nurturing school environments for all students, especially Black and brown girls. The End PUSHOUT Act was informed by the National Black Women’s Justice Institute’s research.
We hosted the "Let’s Link Up – Your Voice Gives Me Strength" series with the Western Area of The Links, Incorporated. This series aimed to build our collective power to take on critical issues that impact the health, wellbeing, and livelihood of Black women and girls. In this series, we talked to Black women who are leading healing-centered work in their communities and striving to create safe and supportive spaces for Black women and girls.
We launch our Creating, Affirming, Responsive, and Equitable Schools (CARES) Initiative. The CARES Initiative serves as a national training, assistance, and resource hub for schools and educators striving to adopt trauma-informed, culturally affirming, and gender-sensitive policies and practices that affirm young people’s identities and foster safety, belonging, and opportunity for every student, especially Black girls and gender-expansive youth.
We launch our Black Girls’ Pushout from School Data Hub. It is an interactive tool designed to 1) bring visibility to how punitive discipline practices push Black girls out of classrooms and into harmful cycles of exclusion, criminalization, and confinement. and 2) equip schools, policymakers, advocates, and communities with the data they need to demand change.