Advancing the SPLC’s New Strategic Direction
Since the June announcement of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s restructuring, we as executive leaders of the organization have received many questions about our vision behind the changes. We truly believe that the work of the SPLC will be strengthened by aligning the entire organization around our new strategic direction.
In 2022, the SPLC adopted our first strategic plan, outlining a vision and mission for the organization that sets the stage for our work. We are proud that these key decisions were taken together, with staff input and consultation throughout the adoption of our strategic framework’s vision, mission, values and goals. By focusing on advancing racial justice in the Deep South and beyond, we set clear goals for achieving concrete progress in four programmatic areas: promoting democracy and civic engagement, eliminating poverty, decarcerating and decriminalizing Black and Brown communities and relegating white supremacy out of the mainstream.
After adopting the strategic framework, we assessed the current work and structure of the organization and realized that we needed to make some changes. The legal, political and social landscape has changed since we opened our doors in 1971 — and quite a bit has even changed in just the last decade — but some of our work and internal processes have not. To meet the looming challenges to our democracy and our nation, we needed to adapt our strategies and modernize our operations so that we can meet the challenges of this decade and beyond.
The restructuring considered all aspects of the organization, but most of the changes were in three departments: Legal, Learning for Justice (LFJ) and Development. None of these decisions were made without deep consideration for the impact they would have on the work moving forward.
In the Legal department, our restructuring produced substantial change. The Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative (SIFI) was discontinued and the work of the Immigrant Justice Project (IJP) was integrated into the issue-based litigation teams. Additionally, our Legal Management Team was revamped to strengthen our ability to move, maintain and focus on more ambitious litigation. SIFI and IJP did important, life-changing work and significantly contributed to efforts to protect the rights of immigrants in this country. SIFI, for example, provided direct representation to individuals in immigrant detention centers, primarily in Georgia and Louisiana. However, we came to the difficult realization that individual representation, while incredibly valuable to the individuals and families represented, did not possess the same kind of potential to challenge the overuse of detention in our immigration system as more systemic litigation approaches. As a result, we decided to shift our focus away from individual representation to pursue more systemic litigation that could lead to broader, more transformational changes in immigration policy.
The restructuring of IJP is designed to integrate that work into other litigation teams, which align with the strategic framework. By integrating the protection of immigrant rights and immigrant communities into all our litigation teams, we believe there is a potential for more effective litigation and transformational synergy.
It’s time to try a different approach that doesn’t silo immigrant rights and divorce immigrant communities from other racial justice efforts. Moving forward, we will continue to fight for justice for immigrant communities by stopping the detention and racial profiling of immigrants as well as the exploitation and mistreatment of immigrant workers. We will challenge state laws in our region that drive hate and discrimination against perceived immigrants. By embedding immigrant rights work into teams focused on decarceration, poverty eradication and stopping hate and discrimination, we can achieve legal victories that have a positive impact for all communities of color.
The restructuring of the LFJ program is another reflection of our new strategic commitment to the Deep South and supporting communities on the ground.
For the past 30 years, LFJ has been a vital resource for educators, providing training to teachers to address difficult subjects such as slavery, Jim Crow and the genocide of Indigenous communities. But most of these trainings were offered to teachers and schools outside our region, while the attacks on inclusive public education have escalated dramatically in our states. Vocal groups of politically motivated parents and politicians are attempting to dictate what is being taught and read in classrooms. We realized that we needed to shift our efforts to focus on caregivers and community members in our states to empower them to expand the places and spaces where children learn.
If states won’t let us teach Black history in schools, for example, then we’ll teach it in communities, as was done during Jim Crow. Caregivers will have access to tools that will help them communicate better with teachers, administrators and school boards so they can advocate for their children. This approach will allow us to work closely with communities and create champions of inclusive education at the local level. LFJ’s previously written articles, curricula and other resources will remain available.
Moving beyond the programmatic work, we also assessed our development efforts and considered the trends in fundraising, particularly among more diverse audiences. Traditionally, our fundraising has relied heavily on direct mail, which has been effective, but is not having the same appeal to new generations of donors. With these trends in mind, we are restructuring our development team to enable us to pursue new fundraising strategies that attract a broader range of individuals. This shift in how we raise money will help us secure the funds needed for years to come.
We all came to the SPLC because we believe in this new vision and mission. We are eager to stand with all those who share our commitment to the mission. We have many challenges in front of us and we are confident that, with a clear focus and alignment across the SPLC, we can achieve greater impact together.
- The SPLC Executive Team
