The Economic Justice Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Athens, Georgia. Our mission is to educate, advocate and organize for quality jobs with living wages and benefits.
We partner with the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda which advocates for voting rights protection, elimination of barriers to the ballot box, criminal justice reform, quality education, affordable housing, economic development and equal participation in the political process for Georgians of color and underrepresented communities.
Locally, we coordinate canvassers in thirteen counties in Northeast Georgia and have registered over 19,000 voters since we began this work in 2003. Our coordinators and canvassers also attend local city council, board of election, and school board meetings to stay connected to local issues.
Getting back to our roots, we have reestablished energy behind The Workers Center at EJC. In the very early days of EJC, our founder, Dr. Ray MacNair worked directly with migrant workers in the Athens area, empowering them to know their rights, connecting them with other organizations for support, and providing direct resources. Today, our Workers Center is developing processes for educating workers on their rights, empowering worker-leaders, and assisting workers with the process of developing worker-owned cooperatives and unionizing workplaces.
Strategic Goals:
- Direct-action Voter Registration & encouraging Civic Engagement in our communities by empowering citizens to understand and engage with the processes of our local governments
- Through our Workers Center, we empower workers to become leaders that to know their rights, learn necessary bargaining and negotiation skills, and build people power through collective bargaining, cooperative development, and unionizing workplaces
- Connect working- and living-conditions to policy and legislation and empower citizens to leverage that knowledge to impact our communities to get more civically engaged to bring about economic justice
Today, the Economic Justice Coalition is an active and dynamic organization with roots in every corner of the Athens-Clarke County area. Our programs and campaigns are helping workers get a fair wage, helping low-income families achieve sustainability, and stimulating voter turnout and engagement. We are growing and expanding and excited for what lies ahead!
