She Leads Justice has advanced women’s rights and opportunities in Connecticut since 1973. Formerly known as the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, or 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 its 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.
She Leads Justice uses intersectional strategies to address gender inequality and advance the rights, opportunities, and status of women through:
LEGAL INFORMATION AND ACCESS
She Leads Justice helps bridge the justice gap by providing information about the legal rights of women as well as connecting them with resources and providing individual support as they navigate the justice system.
PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY
She Leads Justice protects and promotes the rights of women by identifying and articulating the challenges they face and elevating their interests and voices through public policy and advocacy.
ADVANCEMENT AND LEADERSHIP INITIATIVES
She Leads Justice provides a platform for women’s voices and issues, and promotes advancement opportunities for women to reach their potential in school, at work, in the home, and in the community.
MISSION
Using a justice and equity lens, She Leads Justice advocates for under-resourced, marginalized women and girls in Connecticut. We work to close the civil legal justice gap and to create state policy for economic security.
VISION
Women and girls in Connecticut have the resources, opportunities, and self-determination to enjoy meaningful lives of abundance and well-being, free from all forms of oppression.
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 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. 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.