The Advancement Project is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on racial justice issues. The organization is made up of two distinct offices, Advancement Project National Office and Advancement Project California, that focus on different issues. AP National Office’s work includes voting rights, school-to-prison pipeline, immigrant justice, policing and criminalization, and education justice; AP California’s work includes education equity, political voice, equity in community investments, and RACE COUNTS.
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 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, 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 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 on the state and impact of police presence in schools. The organization has taken part in Moral Mondays protests, which are liberal demonstrations against Republican public policies. The Advancement Project National Office also advocates for immigration and criminal justice. In 2019, the organization investigated and reported on inhumane treatment of immigrants at an Arizona detention center. The same year, Ben & Jerry’s partnered with Advancement Project in a campaign focused on criminal justice reform. The campaign includes efforts to shut down a St. Louis jail, Workhouse, and other similar jails.
Advancement Project California
In 2017, Advancement Project California launched RACE COUNTS which surveyed California's counties to rank them according to racial disparity. The disparities were measured based on economic opportunity, healthcare access, education, housing, democracy, crime and justice, and environment. Marin and Imperial County were ranked highest for racial disparity. Advancement Project California works toward educational equity among low-income children in California. In 2019, the organization reported on the lack of child care facilities in the state. In April 2020, the organization advocated for a pause on permanent California school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization identified the schools at risk of permanent closure within the most densely populated counties in California. The organization also asked the state to invest in communities impacted by COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders based on children who do not have access to early education or child care. In May 2020, the organization released a policy brief showing the disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases between Black or Latino residents and white residents in Los Angeles county. The policy brief also showed that communities with higher poverty rates had more COVID-19 cases than wealthier communities. The policy brief included an interactive timeline map showing the spread of confirmed cases across the county.
Board of directors
Both Advancement Project's National Office in Washington, D.C. and Advancement Project California are governed by a 16-member board of directors. As of 2019, the board included Bill Lann Lee, Joe Alvarez, Arlene Holt Baker, Harry Belafonte, Stephen R. English, Rinku Sen, Helen Kim, Daniel Leon-Davis, Ash-Lee Henderson, Alberto Retana, Barrett S. Litt, Molly Munger, Katherine Peck, Constance L. Rice, Tom Unterman, and Jesse Williams.
