Wikipedia judith browne dianis biography

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We envision a future where people of color are free – where they can thrive, be safe and exercise power.

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We believe in the genius of ordinary people to achieve lasting and permanent change.

 

Our theory of change for racial justice:

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4.6 million

citizens across the nation – people that have had felony convictions – are being blocked from voting.

It's time to restore wholeness to people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system.

Voting Rights
85%

of victims in school police assaults since 2011 were Black students.

The 3rd most frequent assault type—in over
13% of cases—from 2011 to 2023 was sexual assault.

Education Justice
400

unarmed people have been killed by police in traffic stops over the past five years and that number likely only continues to climb.

Many of the drivers and passengers struck down and killed by police were Black. 

Policing + Decriminalization

Chicago Board of Education votes to remove police from schools

The Chicago Board of Education voted to remove police officers from school. This monumental change would not have been possible without the leadership of young people and organizations like Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

Read here

Judith Browne Dianis

Executive Director

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson

Board Chair | Co-Executive Director, The Highlander Research & Education Center

Jesse Williams

Board Vice-Chair | Actor and Activist

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25th anniversary

This year, Advancement Project celebrates its 25th anniversary. Together, another world is possible. Join us!

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  • Browne Dianis is an American

    • Judith Browne Dianis

    American activist

    Judith A. Browne Dianis is an American civil rights attorney. She is the executive director of Advancement Project, a liberal nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.

    Background

    Dianis graduated from the Wharton School of Business and Columbia University School of Law. She was awarded a Skadden Fellowship. She has served as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, and as a Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar at Florida State University Law School.

    Prior to Advancement Project, she was the Managing Attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

    In 2000, Essence Magazine named Dianis one of "Thirty Women to Watch". She regularly comments on education, voting rights and race on networks including MSNBC, CNN, and BET.

    In 2013, she was named to BET’s “Washington's Most Powerful Women”.

    History with Advancement Project

    Attorney Dianis was a part of Advancement Project's inception in 1999, when it was co-founded by former Advancement Project co-director Penda Hair and several of their peers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

    With Advancement Project, she litigated against the disenfranchisement of African-American voters during the 2000 presidential election in Florida. Later she filed one of the first-ever lawsuits to enforce the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the "Motor Voter" law, litigating on behalf of African-American Floridians after the election.

    In 2004, Dianis sued to stop the Republican National Committee from engaging in potential voter suppression tactics in Ohio. These tactics included the RNC's mass mailings to registered voters, designed so that unreturned or undeliverable mail could be used to challenge those voters' names remaining on the registration rolls.

    In 2005, with Loyola Law Clinic, Dianis and Advancement Pr

  • File · File history ·

    • Advancement Project

    Civil rights advocacy organization

    The Advancement Project is a politically liberal American nonprofit organization that focuses on racial justice issues. The organization has a national office in Washington, D.C., as well as a California-specific office based in Los Angeles.

    Organization overview

    The Advancement Project was founded in 1999 by civil rights lawyers in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

    The organization is made up of two offices: Advancement Project National Office (based in Washington, D.C.) and Advancement Project California.

    The executive director of the Advancement Project's national office is Judith Browne Dianis. The executive director of the California-based office is John Kim. The founding co-directors include Advancement Project co-founders Constance L. Rice, Stephen R. English, and Molly Munger.

    Activities

    Advancement Project National Office

    The Advancement Project National Office is known for its opposition to voter ID laws and advocates for automatic voting rights restoration for all felons. This includes working with Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), a Louisiana non-profit organization in 2017. In 2018, the organization was also actively involved in the passage of Amendment 4 in Florida, which restores voting rights to most ex-felons. The Advancement Project also works with the non-partisan VoteRiders organization to spread state-specific information on voter ID requirements.

    The Advancement Project National Office also advocates for an end to school disciplinary measures which it believes disproportionately put minority children into a school-to-prison pipeline. In 2018, the organization's national office partnered with the Alliance for Educational Justice and released a national report

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