Brandon Sturdivant

Brandon (he/him) is a father of two children, a lifelong Oaklander and a community organizer of 15 years. Brandon first stepped into organizing when he supported a group of West Oakland parents save their elementary school from closing.

Brandon has developed his movement leadership through supporting formerly incarcerated individuals and their directly impacted loved ones to abolish the criminal legal system. Through this work, he has helped build the capacity of East Bay organizations through co-founding the Justice Reinvestment Coalition, which won securement of 50% of state realignment funds, reduction of probation terms and policies that expand opportunities for employment and decision-making for community services for formerly incarcerated people.

As Co-Founder of Mass Liberation Project, he firmly follows the principle that, as we transform systems, we must also transform ourselves. Brandon conceptualized a Return & Reclaim Program, taking Black Formerly Incarcerated Organizers to Ghana to reclaim their ancestral heritage and return to the homeland in an act of generational resistance. This program embodies history, healing and abolitionist imagination.

Traveling the country, Brandon coaches, trains and mentors Directors and Organizers of some of the most dynamic organizations as they work to dismantle the criminal justice system jurisdiction by jurisdiction and create new ways to address harm that do not perpetuate systems of punishment.