Southern Coalition for Social Justice

What Southern Coalition for Social Justice does

Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is a Durham, North Carolina-based nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 2007 that serves Black, Brown, and low-income communities across 10 Southern states. It operates three core programmatic areas — Voting Rights, Justice System Reform, and Environmental Justice — staffed by a multidisciplinary team of lawyers, social scientists, and communications professionals organized under three Chief Counsels (one per program) plus dedicated research and communications directors. The organization's service portfolio combines impact litigation, legal and policy advocacy, community organizing, and rapid-response litigation (notably in zoning matters with 30–60 day statutes of limitation), supplemented by a public catalog of digital tools and educational resources such as the Sampson County Landfill Origins Explorer, NC Zoning Toolkit, College Voter ID Visualizers, and Open Data Policing platform.

SCSJ's underlying technical capabilities are anchored in a Research program that conducts quantitative analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data analysis over multiple public datasets (NC State Board of Elections, NC DEQ GIS, NC OneMap, US Census, Redistricting Data Hub, NC Office of State Budget and Management) to support litigation and policy advocacy. The SOLVE (Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement) Network, formed in 2013 in response to the Shelby County v. Holder decision, coordinates 300+ partner organizations across the 10-state region on voting rights, redistricting, and year-round election protection. Notable litigation outcomes include the voiding of a Stokes County, NC rezoning approval for a 1,845-acre hyperscale data center (2026) and active federal appellate work including a challenge to Florida's 2026 Congressional map.

As a 501(c)(3)-style nonprofit, SCSJ provides services at no cost to impacted communities and is funded through donations, grants, and foundation support rather than client fees. Its distribution model is direct: impact litigation, community organizing, research partnerships, and advocacy campaigns delivered through integrated legal, research, and communications teams, with no public APIs, third-party integrations, or commercial product channels. The organization maintains an active social media presence (Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok), a podcast (Southern Gumption), and a quarterly newsletter, and has a 32-person team spanning legal, research, communications, development, and operations functions.

Name

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Legal name

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Website

https://southerncoalition.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a Durham, NC-based nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 2007 that provides pro bono impact litigation, research, and community organizing to Black, Brown, and low-income communities across 10 Southern states, with programs in voting rights, justice system reform, and environmental justice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Advocacy and Civil Rights Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Other Social Advocacy Organizations (813319), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Racial & Ethnic Justice Organizations (BPAGAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA), Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI), Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Legal advocacy services
• Civil rights litigation
• Voting rights protection
• Environmental justice advocacy
• Community lawyering

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Southern Coalition for Social Justice provides impact litigation, legal advocacy, research, and strategic communications services to Black, Brown, and low-income communities across 10 Southern states. Its work is organized into three focus areas—Voting Rights, Justice System Reform, and Environmental Justice—combined with a Research program (GIS and quantitative analysis), a Communications program (storytelling and public education), and the SOLVE Network coalition of 300+ partner organizations.

Product overview

Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is a multidisciplinary nonprofit organization (founded 2007) comprising lawyers, social scientists, and communications professionals. The organization operates three core programmatic areas—Voting Rights, Justice System Reform, and Environmental Justice—supported by integrated Research and Communications teams. SCSJ's product portfolio consists of direct legal advocacy services and community resources including digital tools (Open Data Policing, Racial Equity Report Cards, Sampson County Landfill Origins Explorer, NC Zoning Toolkit, NC/Mississippi College Voter ID Visualizers, Heat Waves Resource Guide), toolkits (Clean Slate Toolkit, Ban the Box Guide, Your First 48 Hours Toolkit), reports (Safe Return, Missing Voters Report), and multimedia content (Southern Gumption Podcast). The organization does not operate as a technology product company with public APIs or third-party integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SOLVE Network: Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement network formed in 2013 to educate and mobilize Southern communities to defend and advance voting rights, with membership expanded to include more than 300 partners in 10 Southern states.

Products and services

• Voting Rights Program Impact litigation and legal advocacy service for communities fighting voter suppression, unlawful gerrymandering, and unfair election practices across 10 Southern states, combining direct legal representation, redistricting advocacy, and Election Protection work for voters of color.
• Justice System Reform Program Multi-pronged legal advocacy service for ending mass incarceration, supporting second chances, reframing public safety, and challenging systemic racism and collateral consequences in the criminal legal system across the U.S. South.
• Environmental Justice Program Community-based legal advocacy and rapid-response litigation service for communities facing harmful development, industrial pollution, landfills, data center rezoning, and energy equity issues, focused on working people and communities of color.
• SOLVE Network Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement (SOLVE) coalition of 300+ partner organizations across 10 Southern states that collaborates on redistricting, election protection, and voter rights education.
• NC Zoning Toolkit Standalone digital toolkit that helps North Carolina communities navigate the zoning process and advocate for their neighborhoods.
• Sampson County Landfill Origins Explorer Interactive web-based mapping tool that visualizes the origins and distribution of landfills in Sampson County, NC, supporting environmental justice research and community advocacy.
• Open Data Policing Standalone digital resource that provides accessible data on policing practices to support transparency, research, and accountability efforts.
• Umar Muhammad Clean Slate Toolkit Self-help toolkit that guides individuals seeking to clear criminal records and access second chances through expungement.
• Your First 48 Hours Toolkit Practical toolkit for individuals in their first 48 hours after a law enforcement or justice system encounter, including health service and housing information.
• Safe Return: North Carolina's Experience with Bringing People Home Early from Prison Standalone research report analyzing North Carolina's early reentry efforts and prosecutorial second look approaches to inform policy expansion decisions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6,000 calls handled by NC Election Protection Hotline in 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Southern Environmental Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) to file a lawsuit challenging Stokes County's data center rezoning decision. The partnership represents community groups and Walnut Cove, NC residents in challenging zoning changes that would affect approximately 1,845 acres along the Dan River.
• CleanAIRE NCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlaintiff in the lawsuit against Stokes County data center rezoning, representing environmental and community health interests.
• Dan River Basin AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-plaintiff in lawsuit challenging Stokes County rezoning, focused on protecting water resources and community health along the Dan River.
• 7 Directions of ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-plaintiff representing Indigenous community interests and protecting burial sites and cultural resources in Stokes County zoning challenge.
• Southern Poverty Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in Common Cause, et al v. Ron Desantis, et al. case challenging Florida's 2026 Congressional map for partisan gerrymandering.
• Democracy Defenders FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-plaintiff in lawsuit challenging Florida's 2026 Congressional map alleging partisan gerrymandering in violation of Florida's Fair Districts Amendment.
• Common CausecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead plaintiff organization in lawsuit challenging Florida's 2026 Congressional map, represented alongside SCSJ and SPLC.
• League of Women Voters of FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-plaintiff organization in lawsuit challenging Florida's 2026 Congressional map for partisan gerrymandering.
• League of United Latin American CitizenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-plaintiff organization representing Latin American communities affected by Florida's partisan congressional redistricting.
• Texas Civil Rights ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel with SCSJ representing Savanna Batten in appeal of 50-year federal sentence for attending a protest, challenging conviction in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
• North Carolina Environmental Justice NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient represented by SCSJ in filing consumer statement with NC Utilities Commission regarding Duke Energy's Carbon Plan, advocating for affordability and environmental justice.
• Environmental Justice Community Action NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient organization represented by SCSJ in challenging Duke Energy's Carbon Plan and Integrated Resources Plan before the NC Utilities Commission.
• SOLVE Network Partner OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of over 300 partner organizations across 10 Southern states collaborating on voting rights issues including redistricting and election protection, formed in 2013 in response to Shelby County v. Holder decision.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Demos: Emerging player in voting rights, racial equity, and economic democracy via research, policy, and litigation. Overlaps with SCSJ's redistricting and voter-suppression work, often as a research/coalition partner rather than direct courtroom peer.

Direct peers

• Common Cause: Direct peer and lead plaintiff alongside SCSJ in the Florida redistricting challenge. Operates a national nonpartisan voting rights and government accountability docket with overlapping litigation and advocacy.
• American Civil Liberties Union: Direct peer operating nationwide impact litigation and advocacy across voting rights, criminal justice reform, and free speech — the same core pillars as SCSJ, with strong Southern affiliate presence and overlapping litigation theories.
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Direct peer running the national Election Protection coalition and active voting-rights litigation, including in Southern states. Operates an analogous hotline and rapid-response model to SCSJ's NC Election Protection work.
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Direct peer litigating voting rights, criminal justice, and education equity, with a long track record in Southern states. Highly comparable mission and client communities to SCSJ's Black, Brown, and low-income focus.
• Brennan Center for Justice: Direct peer working on voting rights, redistricting, and criminal justice reform via research, policy, and litigation. Overlaps strongly with SCSJ's Voting Rights program and produces research that SCSJ's team uses in litigation.
• Texas Civil Rights Project: Direct peer and confirmed co-counsel with SCSJ (Savanna Batten appeal). Focuses on voting rights, criminal justice, and immigrant justice in Texas and the South, with a comparable community-lawyering approach.
• Southern Environmental Law Center: Direct peer and active co-counsel with SCSJ (Stokes County Project Delta). Regional environmental legal organization whose environmental justice, clean energy, and land-use work directly overlaps SCSJ's Environmental Justice program.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Direct peer and active co-counsel with SCSJ (e.g., Common Cause v. DeSantis). Operates a comparable Southern-focused civil rights legal docket including voting rights, criminal justice, and immigrant justice, with a similar multidisciplinary model.

Broad incumbents

• Vera Institute of Justice: Broader incumbent working on criminal justice reform, reentry, and racial equity through research, technical assistance, and direct services. Overlaps with SCSJ's Justice System Reform program but operates at national scale rather than Southern-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/scsjofficial.bsky.social
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZdI0w-4VPTEoT2xZ_UYetA
• Facebookfacebook.com/southerncoalition
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scsjofficial
• Instagraminstagram.com/scsjofficial
• TikToktiktok.com/@scsjofficial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Coalition for Social Justice