The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, CA, working to advance racial and economic justice to ensure dignity and opportunity for low-income people and people of color. In our 20 year history, they have worked on issues including jump starting the green jobs movement, promoting civic engagement, violence prevention through youth leadership, and transforming juvenile justice systems in California. They are currently working to end mass incarceration and mass criminalization in the United States through Truth and Reinvestment—moving resources away from failed criminal justice policies and into creating opportunities, also known as “books not bars, jobs not jails, healthcare not handcuffs.”

Mission
The mission is to advance racial and economic justice to ensure dignity and opportunity for low-income people and people of color.

Goal
The goal is to end mass incarceration by advocating for justice reinvestment, which means moving resources away from prisons and punishment and towards education, job training and creation, and healthcare. They are currently working at the local, state, and national levels to advance a books not bars, jobs not jails, healthcare not handcuffs agenda.