About Us
As AJC
“Our success in the past has been running through the door that is cracked and breaking it open.”
Our Vision
AJC serves people who are historically and systematically impacted by gentrification, segregation, over policing, a lack of educational and employment opportunities, and other institutional forms of racism in Austin.
Mission
AJC is a Black-led organization that elevates lived experience, builds leadership, organizes, advocates, celebrates Black culture, and mobilizes people to boldly fight racist systems through a Black, queer, feminist, abolitionist lens.
Our Story
“We understand that change comes in many forms, and we are strong proponents of coalition building.”
Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) is a community organization that focuses on improving the quality of life for people who are Black, Brown, and poor. AJC’s strategy continues to create direct and indirect impact in communities of color by influencing changes in local government and advocating for policy reform. This strategy builds on AJC’s experience and knowledge from its work thus far.
March 15, 2015
Founded in 2015
When Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) was founded in 2015, Austin had the highest per capita rate of police shootings in Texas
January 1, 2016
Better Before More Campaign Launched
One year later – in response to the Police Department’s request for $13 million to hire more officers – AJC launched the Better Before More campaign.
August 8, 2019
Penned an op-ed in the New York Times
Chas Moore and Sukyi McMahon, Executive Director and AJC Board Chair at the time. Click to read the article
2016-2020
Highlights
- End to Class C Misdemeanor Arrests
- Rewritten Body Cam Policy
- Negotiated Use of Force Policy
- De-escalation Policy
- Leading organization for pushing a truly separate Office of Police Oversight that allowed:
- Complaints against the APD accepted online.
- No statute of limitations for investigations.
- Public recommendations on APD incidents.
- APD chief obligated to respond in writing…
2020
Financial
Until 2020, Austin Justice Coalition was fiscally sponsored by the Texas Fair Defense Project. Click to view our first 990 for the year 2020 and check back for our 2021 990 or review our profile on Guidestar here .
December 20, 2020
Toolkit Developed
AJC developed a toolkit for organizers working on police reform to leverage the police union contract process and provided training to community members on city budgeting processes. Click to view our toolkit
Impacts
AJC believes in leveraging our many skills and passions to move the needle on issues of racial justice. Here are some of our most outstanding impacts