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Who We Are
we free us.
Dignity and Power Now (DPN) is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization founded in 2012 and dedicated to securing dignity and power for all incarcerated people, their families, and communities.
We are a Black and Brown-led grassroots movement grounded in the principles of prison abolition, community healing, and transformative justice.
Our mission is to build a movement rooted in community power to bring about a future where our people are truly free: free from cages, free from trauma, and free to thrive.
We are a Black and Brown-led grassroots movement grounded in the principles of prison abolition, community healing, and transformative justice.
Our mission is to build a movement rooted in community power to bring about a future where our people are truly free: free from cages, free from trauma, and free to thrive.
OUR VISION
We envision a world where incarceration is obsolete.
- A world where communities are no longer criminalized but cared for.
- A world rooted in accountability, not punishment.
- A world where healing is justice and where dignity and power are non-negotiable rights for all.
This is abolition in action. This is Dignity and Power Now.
OUR ROOTS
Dignity and Power Now was born from lived experience and collective urgency.
In 2011, founder and longtime community organizer Patrisse Cullors read an 86-page report from the ACLU exposing abuse inside the Los Angeles County jails.
As someone whose father and brother had been impacted by that same system, Patrisse channeled grief into resistance, creating the performance art piece STAINED: An Intimate Portrayal of State Violence.
What began as art quickly evolved into action. Community members and organizers didn’t just want a symbolic protest of injustice: they wanted to uproot the system.
In 2011, founder and longtime community organizer Patrisse Cullors read an 86-page report from the ACLU exposing abuse inside the Los Angeles County jails.
As someone whose father and brother had been impacted by that same system, Patrisse channeled grief into resistance, creating the performance art piece STAINED: An Intimate Portrayal of State Violence.
What began as art quickly evolved into action. Community members and organizers didn’t just want a symbolic protest of injustice: they wanted to uproot the system.
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FROM TRAUMA TO POWER
That call for change birthed the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence, uniting formerly incarcerated people, survivors of police abuse, and families directly impacted by state violence.
Together, we organized, testified, and demanded civilian oversight of the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
What became clear then and remains central to our work now is that the trauma of incarceration does not end at jails. The violence endured from the system reverberates through communities: in our schools, on our streets, in our hospitals, and in our homes.
DPN grew out of a real, urgent question: What would it take to truly invest in the dignity, safety, healing, and leadership of people most harmed by incarceration and policing?
Our answer is to stand with our community in healing and advocacy by dismantling the systems that harm us, empowering one another, and grounding ourselves in joy and resistance.
Together, we organized, testified, and demanded civilian oversight of the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
What became clear then and remains central to our work now is that the trauma of incarceration does not end at jails. The violence endured from the system reverberates through communities: in our schools, on our streets, in our hospitals, and in our homes.
DPN grew out of a real, urgent question: What would it take to truly invest in the dignity, safety, healing, and leadership of people most harmed by incarceration and policing?
Our answer is to stand with our community in healing and advocacy by dismantling the systems that harm us, empowering one another, and grounding ourselves in joy and resistance.
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#POWERINCOMMUNITY
We are building a movement rooted in love, centered and led by those most impacted, and powered by the belief that true justice begins with us.
Join us in creating a world where dignity is non-negotiable and freedom is for everyone.
Join us in creating a world where dignity is non-negotiable and freedom is for everyone.
our family
Many members of our team and leadership have been directly impacted by incarceration or police violence. Some are formerly incarcerated themselves, and many have lost loved ones to the system.
Our work is deeply personal and profoundly communal. We are organizers, artists, healers, survivors, youth leaders, and system-impacted community members.
Together, we are building a multifaceted movement to dismantle systems of harm and invest in life-affirming alternatives.
Our work is deeply personal and profoundly communal. We are organizers, artists, healers, survivors, youth leaders, and system-impacted community members.
Together, we are building a multifaceted movement to dismantle systems of harm and invest in life-affirming alternatives.
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MEET THE TEAM
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Our Board
Open Positions
Work With Us!
Dignity and Power Now is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.
We welcome all qualified applicants, including formerly incarcerated individuals. We are proud to comply with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (LA Ord. 184652).
We are looking for ambitious applicants who have a fierce commitment to race and gender justice to join our team. We strongly encourage people with incarcerated loved ones, people who are formerly incarcerated, people of color, queer people, and people who are trans, gender variant, or gender nonconforming to apply.
Dignity and Power Now is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.
We welcome all qualified applicants, including formerly incarcerated individuals. We are proud to comply with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (LA Ord. 184652).
We are looking for ambitious applicants who have a fierce commitment to race and gender justice to join our team. We strongly encourage people with incarcerated loved ones, people who are formerly incarcerated, people of color, queer people, and people who are trans, gender variant, or gender nonconforming to apply.