This initiative addresses a bedrock racial justice issue: expanding the active electorate. Our work focuses on increasing democratic participation in low-income and minority communities by investigating obstacles to voter participation and providing mechanisms for removing those obstacles, generating reform efforts that seek to expand opportunities for democratic participation, building support for a more transformational solution for re-enfranchising formerly incarcerated people, and facilitating alliances among multi-racial groups.

Advancement Project's Opportunity to Learn Program seeks to take decisive actions to eliminate institutional barriers that exclude children of color and poor children from quality K-12 education and opportunities to pursue college degrees. Currently, the Program comprises two initiatives: Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track and Quality Education for All.

Advancement Project’s Strategic Initiatives Program involves campaigns that demonstrate the far-reaching impact of community justice lawyering on overlapping structural exclusion issues. Our Strategic Initiatives work reflects the most pressing racial justice issues in the nation—including immigrants’ rights, affordable housing, and urban gentrification. As the country’s social, economic, and political climates continue to change, our Strategic Initiatives Program is in place to respond as new issues arise. Currently, our Strategic Initiatives Program includes three projects: Reconstructing Justice Post Katrina, Immigrant Justice, and Inclusive Development.