Essie Justice Group

WEBINAR: What can a redlined community’s historic win teach us about advancing civil rights today? When the Eaton Fire exposed evacuation disparities in West Altadena, fire-impacted Black women leaders built a local multicultural movement demanding accountability. Through a year-long fight, Altadena For Accountability won the first-ever civil rights investigation following a climate disaster in U.S. history. Join us to hear insights from the lead organizers who made this historic win and learn what’s next in their work towards reparations for fire survivors. A Case Study for Hope: How Local Organizing Won A Civil Rights First.  Wednesday, June 3 | 11:30am - 1pm PST Zoom | Register today at bit.ly/A4AWEBINAR Featured orgs: Essie Justice Group, Altadena Rising, California Black Power Network, End Child Poverty California powered by GRACE Sponsors: Movement Innovation Collaborative, Borealis Philanthropy

Today marks 12 years of the healing, leadership, and impact of Essie. From our Member Summit earlier this year where we strategized ways to disrupt intensifying systems of harm and control, to our policy work to ensure every woman is protected and safe when visiting her incarcerated loved ones, to our work on-the-ground work today to free a Black mama of three—we’re leading the way forward to a world more loving and free.  Thank you for being with us and believing in the power of women with incarcerated loved ones. To join us in ensuring women with incarcerated loved ones can lead, visit: https://lnkd.in/g-s27y7J

No one should have to sit in jail simply because they cannot afford bail. Deep gratitude to Civil Rights Corps for leading this work to end the criminalization of poverty through bail in California and to our partners National Bail Out as we enter into our 10th Black Mama's Bail Out season!

“We found each other and immediately saw that we had something in common—not just in terms of the justice and outcomes we wanted for our Altadena, but how the work gets done.” — Gina Clayton-Johnson for Essence Communications Inc. Altadena for Accountability is the Black women-led collective of Eaton Fire survivors, organizers, and community leaders who compelled California Attorney General Rob Bonta to launch a historic civil rights investigation into the Eaton Fire emergency response in West Altadena—founded by Essie, alongside our partners Altadena Rising and California Black Power Network. Until now, no U.S. Attorney General has ever launched a civil rights investigation following a catastrophic climate disaster. Read our Essence feature for more on how the leadership of Black women won a first-of-its-kind civil rights precedent: https://lnkd.in/g9tYhqdV

Protecting women and girls is non-negotiable. Women with incarcerated loved ones stand with Dolores Huerta, Ana Murgia, Debra Rojas, and all survivors of gender-based violence.

Last weekend, 35 Essie Sisters graduated from our Facilitator's Training Program. Sisters left ready to kick off our Spring 2026 Healing to Advocacy Program in a couple weeks! 🧡 Our two-day Facilitator's Training Program invests in the leadership of women who have graduated from our Healing to Advocacy Program, equipping them with tools to step into the role of a Facilitator. As Facilitators, they are the architects of creating a healing space that moves women with incarcerated loved ones from isolation into a supportive, life-long community of caregivers and advocates working to end mass incarceration's harm. If you are or know a woman or gender expansive person with an incarcerated loved one who could benefit from a safe space to heal and build community, sign them up for our Healing to Advocacy Program starting later this https://lnkd.in/gAyX-Ehg

“There’s power in unity. In a world that tries to pit us against each other, it’s powerful for us as women with incarcerated loved ones to get into the same room and identify the intersections of our fight.” — Santara, Essie Sister Essie’s Our Duty to Win 2026 Member Summit brought together over 100 Essie Sisters from across the country to strategize ways to disrupt the systems that try to divide, isolate, and harm us. Through workshops spanning political analysis, ICE intervention, principled struggle, mutual aid, policy framing, and conflict resolution, we strengthened our leadership in real time, increasing our capacity to meet this political moment. We are filled with gratitude to have shared the weekend with some of our movement’s most powerful and skillful healers and facilitators. Thank you gina Breedlove, Adaku Utah, MawuLisa, Alta Starr, Rev. Shaundra Cunningham, and Alicia Raquel Morales for holding the container for us to expand our resilience toolkits with resources to be well, impactful, and grounded for the fights ahead. We look forward to sharing more of our campaign, organizing, and policy developments—stay tuned! #Leadership #Strategy

Women with incarcerated loved ones in our community face mounting needs right now. A gift to Essie ensures that women with incarcerated loved ones continue to sharpen their leadership and deepen spaces of healing and care.  Today is your last chance to make a donation this year, and any level of support is impactful. Give today for the leaders of tomorrow: bit.ly/resource-leadership  #Donate #SocialImpact #Leadership

A note from Darcie, Essie Sister 📌 When I joined Essie in 2016, I was searching for belonging. Being in a relationship with someone who was formerly incarcerated brought judgment and isolation. Essie was the first place where I was met with radical acceptance. Since then, Essie has walked beside me through some of the hardest and most transformative moments of my life, from courtrooms to community organizing spaces. When I faced a personal crisis that led to my being briefly incarcerated, Essie Sisters surrounded me with care, showed up to my court dates, and helped me rebuild. Their support gave me the strength to become the leader I am today. Now, I serve on Essie’s Sisterhood Strategy Team, a formal leadership body for members, helping shape programs that ensure women like me can access healing and leadership no matter what barriers they face. From transportation and childcare to emergency financial aid and therapy, Essie removes the practical and financial burdens that too often keep women from stepping into their power. Will you give an end of year gift to help women like me move from isolation to leadership, ensuring we have the resources, community, and care we need to heal and lead? If you said ‘yes’, click here: bit.ly/resource-leadership  With love and gratitude, Darcie #Donate #SocialImpact #Leadership

At Essie, women with incarcerated loved ones are uprooting systems of harm through strategies of care and Sisterhood. For us, giving grocery cards during a government shutdown, running an Immediate Needs Program, providing transportation for Sisters to access healing circles and trainings, and providing childcare for system-impacted kids aren’t mere acts of kindness—they are strategic investments in leadership.  This #GivingTuesday, give an end of year gift to keep our powerful care-centered work moving! Your support helps make possible our isolation-breaking healing and leadership programs, advocacy and policy wins, and a powerful network of 550+ community leaders like Essie Sister, Sadio (pictured). bit.ly/resource-leadership  #Donate #SocialImpact #Leadership