About She Leads Justice
She Leads Justice has advanced women’s rights and opportunities in Connecticut since 1973. Formerly known as Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), She Leads Justice is a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for and empowers women in Connecticut, especially those who are under-resourced or marginalized. We work to create an equitable society where women thrive.
During our first decade, She Leads Justice focused on impact litigation, participating in cases involving equal pay, equal credit, and sex discrimination. Throughout the years, She Leads Justice also played a significant role in policy victories such as marriage equality, discrimination protections based on gender identity, birth control access, earned sick days, and protections for survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
VISION
Women in Connecticut have the resources, opportunities, and self-determination to enjoy meaningful lives of abundance and well-being, free from all forms of oppression.
MISSION
Using a justice and equity lens, She Leads Justice advocates for under-resourced, marginalized women in Connecticut. We work to close the civil legal justice gap, to organize communities for change, and to create state policy for economic security.
PURPOSE
She Leads Justice addresses racial and gender inequities as well as advances the rights, opportunities, and status of women across the state of Connecticut through community-centered grassroots advocacy, direct-client services, and policy advocacy.
She Leads Justice centers women in our work, with women of color and women living with low income being the highest priority.
Our work is intended to benefit women across Connecticut, but we pay particular attention to the impact on women who live in communities that have been historically marginalized, disinvested, segregated and excluded. In Connecticut, we know this means a priority must be placed on Black, brown and immigrant communities in our urban centers, and also rural areas where a critical mass of women live with poverty.
VALUES
Our organizational values guide our relationships with the communities we serve and organize, influence our work in solidarity with our peer and partner organizations, and inform our approach to legislative advocacy.
1. Building Community Power in the Intersectional Feminist Movement
We know the women and communities we center are inherently wise, powerful, and the experts of their lived experiences, and we partner with them to co-create transformative and meaningful change.
2. Accountability
Claiming to work towards equity and justice without accountability is empty talk. We hold ourselves accountable to the communities we serve by being transparent, humble, and continually developing channels for candid feedback. We hold ourselves to high standards and will make every effort to repair any harm we may cause.
3. Justice
Going beyond equity, we seek collective liberation from all systems of oppression where everyone has the dignity, resources, power, and self-determination to thrive.
4. Anti-racism
We know that white supremacy is the foundation in which all forms of oppression are built in this country- including patriarchy. We explicitly and unapologetically work to dismantle white supremacy and anti-Blackness while centering and amplifying the voices and lived experiences of women and people of color.
5. Intersectional feminism
As an intersectional feminist organization, we are learning how to reject ideologies and practices rooted in or that perpetuate (whether intentionally or unintentionally) white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism, and other forms of oppression. We are committed to making a meaningful contribution toward dismantling systems of oppression that marginalize and disempower women of color, especially women of color living with low income. In doing so, we are committed to educating and calling in white women to participate meaningfully in this work.
THE WORK OF SHE LEADS JUSTICE
Our work supports women who identify as cisgender and transgender, and non-binary individuals, as well as people of all marginalized gender identities systemically and historically oppressed by those in power. She Leads Justice uses intersectional strategies to address gender inequality and advance the rights, opportunities, and status of women through:
Legal Information + Access
She Leads Justice bridges the civil legal justice gap for women, especially women living with poverty, to understand their legal rights with our free Information and Referral line, advocacy services, and community education.
Community Organizing
She Leads Justice builds community power across the state by creating and sharing capacity-building tools, fostering relationships, and following the lead of Connecticut women and girls. The aim of Community Organizing through She Leads Justice is to combat systemic barriers that impact the communities of greatest need, ultimately enacting change at the policy level.
Public Policy + Advocacy
She Leads Justice protects and promotes the rights of women and girls by identifying and articulating the challenges they face and elevating their interests and voices through public policy and advocacy.