Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. is the Founder and President of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute (NBWJI), an organization that works to reduce racial and gender disparities across the justice continuum affecting Black women, girls, and their families. They seek to interrupt school-to-confinement pathways for girls, reduce the barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated women, and increase the capacity of organizations working to reduce sexual assault and domestic violence in African American communities.

Morris is an award-winning author and social justice scholar that examines and specializes in the ways in which Black communities, and other communities of color, are uniquely affected by social policies. Her forthcoming book, “Sing A Rhythm, Dance A Blues” (The New Press, 2019), explores a pedagogy to counter the criminalization of Black and Brown girls in schools. She is also the author of “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” (The New Press, 2016), “Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century” (The New Press, 2014),  “Too Beautiful for Words” (MWM Books, 2012) and worked withKembaSmith on her book, “Poster Child: The KembaSmith Story” (IBJ Book Publishing, 2011).

Morris has written dozens of articles, book chapters, and other publications on social justice issues where her research intersects race, gender, education and justice. Her three decades of experience allows her to actively lecture on research, policies, and practices associated with improving juvenile justice, education, and socioeconomic conditions for Black girls, women, and their families.