Change takes organizing. But organizing is also changing.
AJS is a national center for innovative organizing and strategy. We build powerful organizations and communities. We fight for racial, social, and economic justice.
Founded by LeeAnn Hall in 1993, AJS began as the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations (NWFCO). Groups in the network built grassroots power in unexpected places. They advanced racial justice and multiracial organizing in rural and conservative communities. In 2003, this network expanded nationally and changed its name to Alliance for a Just Society. Our network played a pivotal role in the national campaign to win the Affordable Care Act.
“The Alliance for a Just Society has demonstrated a long commitment to racial justice work and has been so effective in moving community organizations from principles to practice.”
— Rinku Sen, author and racial justice leader
AJS has a reputation for collaborative, hands-on work with organizations. We partner with movement organizations to improve their impact. AJS has trained thousands of organizers and coached organizing teams large and small. AJS has a deep commitment to grassroots leadership and member-driven organizing.
No longer a network of organizations, AJS remains a leader in social change strategy. We use training, political education, coaching, and campaign strategy to advance the public good.
Alliance for a Just Society also helps organizations audit their organizing programs and campaigns to sharpen their strategy and staff management. If you are interested in working with us, email admin@juststrategy.org.
Alliance for Just Society’s 501(c)(4) sister organization is Just Strategy.
Our team
LeeAnn
Hall
Executive Director
LeeAnn Hall has been a leader of social and racial justice movements for more than thirty-five years. She was a co-founder of People’s Action and is treasurer of the board of Race Forward. As Director for Idaho Community Action Network, she led the successful campaign to cover farmworkers by Idaho’s minimum wage laws for the first time. LeeAnn was the recipient of the prestigious Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation and the Prime Movers Award. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Fernando
Mejia Ledesma
Campaign Director
Fernando is the Communities for Our Colleges Campaign Director at the Alliance for a Just Society. He has twenty years of organizing and policy experience with many labor, community, and racial and economic justice organizations in Washington State and across the U.S. Fernando migrated from Mexico at sixteen years old and recently became a U.S. citizen and voted for the first time in 2021. He sits on the board of the Tubman Center for Health & Freedom and the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
Tysonia
Carr
Finance & Administrative Director
TySonia Carr has over a decade of experience building non-profit accounting and administrative systems, as well as with budgeting and financial reporting. TySonia supports the operations of Alliance for a Just Society and its fiscally sponsored organizations and projects. Tysonia began working with Alliance for Just Society 501(c)(3) and its sister organization Just Strategy’s 501(c)(4) sister organization — in 2010. Tysonia loves to travel, cook and spend time with her large family. She lives in Seattle, WA.
Gabby
Fitz
Campaign Organizer
Gabby (she/her/ella) is an Organizer for Communities for Our Colleges. She is originally from Boise, Idaho, and began working for Alliance for a Just Society in 2022. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Spanish from Seattle University. Gabby’s values align with AJS’s work in community organizing and empowering self-advocacy. During her downtime, you can catch her happily immersed in the art of crocheting.
Xochilt
Lopez
Campaign Organizer
Xochilt Is an Organizer for Communities for Our Colleges. She emigrated from Jalisco, Mexico in 2009, and is a mother of three. She worked in Yakima-area packing warehouses for many years. Xochilt pursued a community college degree at Yakima Valley College in order to improve her English, find a job supporting her family, and help the community. At YVC, she founded Connection Bridge, a student club that helps students navigate their college experience.
Nathan Riding
Administrative Assistant
Nathan Riding is an organizing and campaign professional with over 15 years of experience advancing health care access, environmental justice, and LGBTQ+ equality. He has played key roles in major advocacy efforts, including multi-state organizing with Health Care for America Now during the fight to pass the Affordable Care Act, statewide coalition organizing with Equal Rights Washington to help pass Washington’s first domestic partner law, and a decade supporting environmental campaigns with the Sierra Club. His work is rooted in grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and strengthening movements to win lasting social change.
Stevie
Pasamonte
Senior Transit Organizer
Stevie (they/them) is an organizer focused on building grassroots power at the intersection of mobility, climate, and racial justice. As the board chair of Transit Columbus, they helped win a major funding increase for central Ohio public transit, sidewalks, and bikeways, and built coalitions to champion the city’s first complete streets policy.
Stevie draws from their experience as a grassroots advocate and lifelong public transit rider in their work with the National Campaign for Transit Justice.
Giancarlo Valdetaro
Senior Transit Organizer
Giancarlo is an organizer with the National Campaign for Transit Justice. He spends much of his work and personal time fighting for a world where nobody needs to have a car in order to live a full life. Outside of that, you can find him going on long walks, baking, reading on the Metro, or enjoying good meals with good friends.
Ann Sullivan
Transit Organizing Consultant
Ann brings over 25 years of leadership in community organizing. Starting as a board member for Transportation Alternatives in the early 1990’s turned into years of organizing, most recently with Spring Street Climate Fund and Transit Center where she built the statewide coalition, New Yorkers for Transportation Equity.
Ann has a deep history of organizing across NY state, including for the New York Civic Engagement Table, Center for Community Change. She serves as the Interim Executive Director of the New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc., Lead Organizer for NY ACORN and Deputy Director with New York Communities for Change.
She holds an MFA from New York University and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.