University Life is committed to the values of inclusion and belonging.
This website provides resources focused on combating bias and promoting social justice available both at Columbia and beyond. It is ever-evolving, and we are currently working to add additional pages and resources. We welcome your ideas, questions, and feedback - please email us at [email protected].
What is social justice?
Definitions vary, but at their core, the central idea underpinning the concept of social justice is that all people should both be treated equally AND have equal access to society's resources and opportunities. Concepts of social justice acknowledge that this access and treatment has been inequitable historically, a practice that continues in the present for people across identity groups.
Below are organizations advocating for justice across the country. Requests to add additional items can be sent to [email protected].
Please note Columbia University is not affiliated with, nor does it explicitly endorse, any of the organizations listed.
National Organizations
- American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity
- Appleseed
- Center for Media Justice
- Color of Change
- Equal Justice Initiative
- Fair Fight
- Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- League of United Latin American Citizens
- National Fair Housing Alliance
- National Urban League
- Race Forward
- Transgender Law Center
- Unidos
State Organizations
Alabama
- Alabama Prison Birth Project
- The Dannon Project
- National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice
- Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty
- Renascence House
Alaska
Arizona
- American Friends Service Committee Arizona
- David's Hope
- Prison Fellowship
- SouthWest Organizing Project
Arkansas
California
- The Anti‑Recidivism Coalition
- Californians for Safety and Justice
- California Reentry Institute
- California Alliance Youth & Community Justice
- Children’s Defense Fund California
- Delancey Street Foundation
- Eckerd Connects
- Human Rights Pen Pals
- The Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
- Paws for Life Prison Program
- Prison University Project
- PRISON Yoga + Meditation
- Project ReMADE
- Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth
- Root and Rebound
- UnCommon Law
- Young Women's Freedom Center's Reimagine Justice campaign
Colorado
- Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
- Colorado CURE
- Colorado Juvenile Defender Center
- Empowerment Program
- Native American Rights Fund
- The Reentry Initiative
- Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center
- Second Chance Center, Inc.
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
- ACLU Florida
- Alliance for Safety and Justice: Florida
- Florida Juvenile Justice Association
- Operation New Hope
- Project 180
Georgia
- Eckerd Connects
- Georgia Justice Project
- Southern Center for Human Rights
- Step Up Savannah
- Truancy Intervention Project
- Voices for Georgia's Children
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
- Alliance for Safety and Justice: Illinois
- BUILD
- Cabrini Green Legal Aid
- Center on Wrongful Convictions
- Chicago Innocence Project
- Chicago Urban League
- Decarcerate Illinois
- Freedom House Reentry
- Illinois Justice Project
- Juvenile Justice Initiative
- Safer Foundation
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
- ACLU Kansas
- Council of State Governments
- Kansans United for Youth Justice
- Kansas for Smart Justice
- Oxford Houses of Kansas
- The Seed House
Kentucky
Louisiana
- ACLU Louisiana
- Connections For Life
- Court Watch NOLA
- Families & Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children (FFLIC)
- Lift Louisiana
- Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
- Louisiana Youth Justice Coalition
- SPLC Louisiana
- Voices of the Experienced
Maine
Maryland
- ACLU of Maryland
- Goucher Prison Education Partnership
- Justice Policy Institute
- Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform
- Maryland CURE
- MD Justice
- Vera Institute of Justice
Massachusetts
- Citizens for Juvenile Justice
- Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
- Criminal Justice Policy Coalition
- Jobs Not Jails
- Neighbor to Neighbor
- Roca
Michigan
- Alliance for Safety and Justice: Michigan
- American Friends Service Committee
- A.R.R.O. (Advocacy, Reentry, Resources and Outreach Northwest Initiative)
- Citizens for Prison Reform
Minnesota
Mississippi
- Children’s Defense Fund Southern Regional Office
- Mississippi Access to Justice Commission
- One Voice
- Southern Echo
- The Winter Institute
Missouri
- Center for Women in Transition
- Community Action Agency of St. Louis
- Concordance Academy
- Connections to Success
- Criminal Justice Task Force
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums Missouri
- Midwest Innocence Project
- Missouri CURE
- National Juvenile Justice Network
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
- Advocates for Children of New Jersey
- Eckerd Connects
- New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
- Volunteers of America Delaware Valley
- Youth Justice New Jersey
New Mexico
- ACLU New Mexico
- Best Chance
- Corinne Wolfe Center for Child and Family Justice
- Crossroads for Women
- HopeWorks
- New Mexico Voices for Children
- SouthWest Organizing Project
- Young Women United
New York
- Adolescent Reentry Task Force
- Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
- Center for Community Alternatives
- Center for Court Innovation
- The Center for Law and Justice: Albany
- Challenging Incarceration New York
- The Children's Aid Society
- Children’s Defense Fund New York
- Common Justice
- Eckerd Connects
- Focus Forward Project
- Fortune Society
- Gathering for Justice
- Harlem Children's Zone
- Judicial Process Commission
- Legal Assistance of Western New York
- The Marshall Project
- New York CURE
- The Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College
- Releasing Aging People in Prison
- The Robert P. Patterson Jr. Mentoring Program at The Bronx Defenders
- Trinity Alliance
- Vera Institute of Justice
- Young New Yorkers
- Youth Represent
North Carolina
- Carolina Justice Policy Center
- Delancey Street North Carolina
- Eckerd Connects
- North Carolina Justice Center
- Southern Anti‑Racism Network
- Southern Coalition for Social Justice
North Dakota
Ohio
- ACLU Ohio
- Alliance for Safety and Justice: Ohio
- Juvenile Justice Coalition
- Lighthouse Youth Services
- Ohio Justice and Policy Center
- Volunteers of America Greater Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
- The Center for Returning Citizens
- Eckerd Connects
- Human Rights Coalition
- The Lewisburg Prison Project
- The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
- The Pennsylvania Prison Society
- Prisoner Visitation and Support
- The Reentry Support Project
- Village of Arts & Humanities
- Youth Sentencing and Reentry Project
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
- ACLU Tennessee
- Coming To The Table
- Project Return
- Tennessee Coalition for Sensible Justice
- Tennessee Justice Center
Texas
- Alliance for Safety and Justice: Texas
- Austin Justice Coalition
- Children’s Defense Fund Texas
- Gulf Coast Trades Center
- Houston Justice
- Texans Care For Children
- Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
- Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
- Texas Inmate Families Association
- Texas Jail Project
- Voices of Pretrial Detention in Texas
Utah
- ACLU Utah
- Golden Spike Outreach
- MentorWorks
- SouthWest Organizing Project
- Utah Harm Reduction Coalition
Vermont
- Community Justice Network of Vermont
- Justice For All
- Mercy Connections
- Peace & Justice Center
- Vermont Works For Women
- Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform
Virginia
- Assisting Families of Inmates
- Legal Aid Justice Center
- National Juvenile Justice Network
- OAR of Arlington
- OAR of Fairfax
- OAR of Richmond
- Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged and the Disenfranchised
- RISE for Youth
- Virginia CARES
- Virginia CURE
- Virginia Reentry and Assistance
- Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Washington
- Columbia Legal Services
- F.I.G.H.T
- Freedom Project
- The If Project
- Interaction Transition
- The Post-Prison Education Project
- Prison Scholar Fund
- The STAR Project
- Spokane County Detention Services
West Virginia
Wisconsin
- National Juvenile Justice Network
- Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
- Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Wyoming
"No matter how committed one has been to challenging these deep injustices and providing remedies, whether as a person, an institution, or a society, we are all rightly being called upon to do more and to begin again, with a great sense of honesty and new purpose. I am committed to that task, but, more importantly, Columbia is committed to it. Columbia is an old institution by the standards of the United States, and it has its share of shameful periods and moments of great progress. I hope we can collectively add to the latter. Across the University, there are many people reflecting on what can be done."
– President Lee C. Bollinger, July 21, 2020