Lioness
Justice Impacted Women's Alliance
Who We Are
The hope of Lioness began as a promise made inside a Texas prison, shaped by survival and a refusal to forget the women we would one day leave behind. In 2022, that promise carried us back to one another on the outside, as we organized to stop the execution of Melissa Lucio. In that moment, we felt the force of our collective power and the truth of what we could build together. In that moment, Lioness was born.
Mission
Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance is a nonprofit organization founded and led by currently and formerly incarcerated girls, women, and gender-expansive people. Our mission is to end the incarceration and systemic devaluation of our population within the Texas criminal legal system, while also building power within our communities.
Vision
We envision a society where we are spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically free from all forms of violence and harm in the criminal legal system. Our vision can be achieved through radical advocacy, leadership development, community building, grassroot organizing and civic engagement.
Values
We believe that lived experience is the guiding force to change. We believe in honoring each other’s differences while striving to bring one unified voice of currently and formerly incarcerated girls, women and gender expansive people in Texas into all spaces. We believe that jails and prisons by nature perpetuate harm and violence.
We are committed to nurturing a space rooted in the intersectionality of the women's rights movement and grounded in the lived experiences of justice-impacted individuals. We recognize that while all girls, women and gender expansive people face systemic oppression, the ways in which we all experience oppression are different, by race, age, class, gender identity, sexuality, disability, and more. We strive to ensure that every person who connects with our work feels seen, respected, and valued.
Lioness Justice Impacted Women's Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Statewide, we elevate the needs and concerns of system-impacted women and gender-expansive people across Texas.
We work with value aligned partners to document and address patterns of systemic harm using research and storytelling. We stay in close relationship with people who are currently incarcerated, whose insight helps inform our focus and priorities.
Locally, we organize to support people and maintain connection.
Across Texas, our Lead Organizers cultivate and nurture regional groups. These groups offer community and healing during reentry and beyond, creating spaces for connection and mutual care.
Our Team
Lead Organizers
Advocacy
Publications
Events
Your support amplifies the voices, leadership, and power of those directly impacted by the Texas criminal legal system.
Donate today and add your voice to the roar for justice!
Click the button to give online, or send checks payable to:
Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance
PO Box 12051
Austin, TX 78711
Resources
Resources for Advocates
It can be confusing and overwhelming knowing where and how to start advocating for yourself and your community. These are a few resources that we often use that help inform and guide our efforts.
Learn MoreGallery
A glimpse into who we are when we’re together, in our joy, in our power, in community.
Each year, we come together to celebrate our freedom, success, and community by reclaiming the narrative around what it means to be a so-called “villainous” woman. This gathering is a celebration of who we truly are and a bold challenge to the stereotypes placed on formerly incarcerated women and queer people.
As of October 2020, there were 592 youth incarcerated in Texas's youth prisons, which are operated by the Texas Department of Juvenile Justice (TJJD). Every December, we host community gatherings to write cards and collect hygiene items for these young people to let them know they are loved and not forgotten! We were once those kids!!
