Rukia Lumumba

Director, Electoral Justice Project & Policy, Movement for Black Lives

Rukia Lumumba (she/her) leads the forward-looking Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, which provides a loving and strategic political home for Black people to seek transformational political change. She is the founder of the award-winning and leading-edge organization, the People’s Advocacy Institute, which, rooted historically and physically in Mississippi, advances practical and groundbreaking solutions to violence that advance racial equity, meet the needs of those harmed, and do not rely on incarceration.

Rukia leads national and local efforts for community-driven policy solutions and community-led public safety and health initiatives. She is responsible for the development of many firsts in Mississippi, including Mississippi’s first credible messenger program providing alternatives to incarceration for youth ages 14-21 and Mississippi’s first Cure Violence program providing hands-on gun violence mediation through the Operation Good program. 

Rukia holds a juris doctorate degree from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in international relations from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, and has studied law and politics in South Africa at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Western Cape.