Catalyst California

Educational equitythe educational equity team works to address the root causes of racial and educational inequity in California to build a b-12 public education system that advances healthy learning environments, positive school climates, and furthers connection, healing, wellbeing, and academic achievement at school sites and in communities. Working deeply with community and local and state leaders, the team works to advance the vision of a transformative, racially just, and relationship-centered b-12 system that supports the healthy development and success of every child in California.

Political voicepolitical voice works to make state and local governments more participatory and representative of the communities they serve. Our goal is that all community members are able to genuinely participate in the making of effective public policy, in ways that go beyond just voting, and that governments respond equitably to community concerns. To accomplish this goal, we advocate for racially and economically just democracy reforms.

Equity in community investmentswe partner with communities of color to equip them with the budget and advocacy tools necessary to win sustainable investments that help all californians thrive. Through budget and policy analysis, trainings, and campaign support, we dismantle the legacy of public disinvestment and criminalization that has created race-based disparities in our communities' health and well-being.

Reimagine justice & safety & otheradvancing justice and safety for low-income communities of color. The criminal legal system was borne out of america's racist founding and continues to devastate communities of color. Data show that californians of color are disproportionately policed, arrested, incarcerated, and subjected to harsher sentences than whites. At the same time, rates of violence are disproportionately higher in low-income communities of colordespite decades of landmark investments in law enforcement and incarceration. These deep-seated harms have eroded public trust in our system of safety.

Discontinued program 1: opportunity to learn (quality education and schoolhouse to jailhouse) we are leaders of the police free schools national campaign working to dismantle the school policing infrastructure and eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline; and, we fight for liberatory education by working to end the dismantling, defunding, and privatization of k-12 public schools. Following two years in which dozens of school districts across the country made commitments to remove police from schools, 2022 saw a dramatic backlash, as students returned to school for the first time since the covid-19 quarantine. In august, we convened the police free schools campaign in chicago, coinciding with the five-year anniversary of the campaign. This spring we released a new toolkit to support partners who wish to file complaints about the harms school police officers inflict on students. Additionally, in december 2022, we released a new research brief, #assaultatspringvalley: an analysis of police violence against black and latine students in public schools, providing data analysis of these police assaults on students and painting a clear picture of how school policing jeopardizes the physical safety and health of black and latine students, girls, students with disabilities, and students attending predominately low-income schools.

Discontinued program 2: power & democracy (right to vote and voter protection) Advancement Project's power & democracy program grounds its work in our mission: to fulfill america's promise of a caring, inclusive, and just democracy. We are working at the national, state, and local levels to protect and expand access to voting. We protect voters' right to exercise their power at the polls by combatting voter suppression and increasing voter engagement across the country; and, we expand the electorate by fighting for the affirmative right to vote for all citizens and restoring the right to vote for formerly incarcerated individuals and impacted communities. This year, we continued our litigation in Florida and Georgia confronting the barriers they erected to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. To support our state-based partners during the 2022 midterm elections Advancement Project staff traveled to Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. Staff worked with state-based partners to answer calls across the states on election day.

Discontinued program 3: justice Project we are building power to decarcerate and decriminalize communities of color, advancing the ability of black and historically oppressed people to determine what they need for safe, stable, healthy, and free communities. The summer of 2022 was the second anniversary of the historic uprising in the aftermath of the tragic murders of george floyd and breonna taylor. Communities across the country were much more receptive to progressive, reform-minded prosecutors and defund the police campaigns. To support this, this year we continued preparing our second cohort in dc of the police abuse litigation corp (palc) as part of the policing Project, a national collaborative to provide infrastructure and training for black and brown lawyers who want to challenge policing, those who collaborate with them, and those who fund them. Over the past year, we have continued our work with east baton rouge parish prison reform coalition (ebrpprc), focusing on their organizational development and campaigns development. In 2022, we provided support as they partnered with voices of the experienced, fair fight initiative, the bail Project, promises of justice initiative, and robert f. kennedy human rights to found the freedom campaign, a grassroots campaign to depopulate and shut down the east baton rouge parish prison

Discontinued program 4: communications on october 22nd, Advancement Project released findings from a multi-state poll and focus groups of gen z voters of color (black, latine, indigenous, and asian american and pacific islander) in Michigan, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia. We released our findings at a press conference we organized that included leading racial justice groups naacp, unidosus, national congress of american indians, and asian & pacific islander american health forum. On june 6th, we launched how cops get off, a three-part animated video series narrated by our board member jesse williams that breaks down a major structure in our culture and laws that keep cops in power and unaccountable. We also created a toolkit to help our partners and supporters join the campaign and promote the videos on their own social media channels.

Discontinued program 5: all other programs includes other programs of general type (general programs) and which have ended/not active