Just Matters
Ideas and inspiration for a just world
Info for NYC Vaccine Center
How can employers help curb the pandemic? By valuing workers. Darren Walker and Chuck Robbins lay out how safety measures like paid sick leave and protective equipment are not only key to fighting COVID-19, but are also part of a larger movement demanding equitable conditions for workers.
Darren Walker, President
As a new administration enters the White House, President Darren Walker takes a step back to reflect on the last four years and what lies ahead for America and the future of democracy.
It’s a familiar cycle: money and attention swoop into swing states during an election, then leave without any lasting benefit for local communities. But advocacy groups are shifting the paradigm by building the power of people too often neglected by political machinery.
Ford Foundation
An enterprising kid, Ford Fellow Adriana Barbosa helped her family make ends meet by selling her great-grandmother’s food. Today, she’s founded a game-changing platform for Black entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive across Latin America.
Ford Foundation
Police violence, hunger and lack of education keep many Black women and girls in Brazil from living their full potential. But they have a lifeline: Benilda Regina Paive De Brito. She knows what’s at stake for them and her moral leadership is opening new opportunities.
Ford Foundation
Drug policies have devastated Black communities. Kassandra Frederique and Drug Policy Alliance understand what’s at stake. One victory at a time, they’re bringing compassion and justice paired with hard data to upend America’s war on drugs.
Ford Foundation
From COVID-19 to the workplace, Black people face injustice on multiple fronts. Tanya Wallace-Gobern knows what’s at stake and is ready to respond. As the first executive director of the National Black Worker Center Project, she’s demonstrating the expansive power of Black leadership to bring justice.
Ford Foundation
The US has a long history of denying marginalized people the right to vote—and of those people fighting back and winning. Desmond Meade battled addiction, incarceration, organized opposition and more to restore voting rights to over a million formerly incarcerated Floridians.
Ford Foundation
Hurricane Maria brought devastation Puerto Rico had never seen. When the federal government’s response fell short, a new vanguard of leaders stepped up, including Glenisse Pagan-Ortiz who is uniting funders with Filantropía Puerto Rico to meet the challenge together.
Ford Foundation
Who better to fight for migrant women than the daughter of farmworkers? Lawyer Monica Ramirez hasn’t stopped advocating for the Latino community since she was 14. Name a challenge migrant women workers face and she is probably tackling it—from sexual harassment to equal pay to COVID-19.
Ford Foundation
From teaching adults to read to exposing injustice in the national press, Bianca Santana is using the power of words to stem the tide of oppression that Black Brazilians face. She’s won some big victories—and is now blazing a trail for future generations.
Ford Foundation
Restaurant workers have long faced inequality, even before COVID-19 devastated the industry and hit them hard. But Sekou Siby, a former kitchen worker, is cutting through the hurdles they face with the precision of a chef’s knife, taking on wage theft, paid sick leave and more.
