Kimberlé Crenshaw is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum, and the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School. She is the Promise Institute Professor at UCLA Law School and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor at Columbia Law School. 

Crenshaw’s work has been foundational in critical race theory and in intersectionality, a term she coined to describe the double bind of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice. Her studies, writing, and activism have identified key issues in the perpetuation of inequality, including the “school to prison pipeline” for African American children and the criminalization of behavior among Black teenage girls. Through the Columbia Law School African American Policy Forum (AAPF), which she co-founded, Crenshaw co-authored (with Andrea Ritchie) Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women, which documented and drew attention to the killing of Black women and girls by police. Crenshaw and AAPF subsequently launched the #SayHerName campaign to call attention to police violence against Black women and girls.

FVAP is now accepting Board Member applications! We are seeking mission-driven leaders with expertise in finance, public health, or the technology sector, and strong Southern California networks to help strengthen our reach across the state to advance equal access to justice for survivors. Join us in strengthening governance, strategy, and impact across our growing organization.

For more information, check out the full FAQ on our website on current initiatives, committees, and commitments. To apply, send your cover letter and resume to dson@fvaplaw.org by April 15th.

Join us to see our mission in action! On March 24, 2026, starting around 10:30 am, one of FVAP's appeals will have Oral Argument in the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four. Our co-counsel from Covington & Burling LLP will be presenting the argument. The main issue in this appeal asks whether the trial court made a mistake in not including all of the opposing party's income in our client's child support order. The Court's decision is expected within 3 months of the Oral Argument. You can watch the Oral Argument in person in SF or remotely here. 

Our advocacy efforts on SB 1192 (The Reclaim Act), legislation introduced by California State Senator Susan Rubio (D–Baldwin Park) and co-sponsored by FVAP, recently received media attention from blogger Peaceful Futures on Substack:

“Courts are meant to be sites of protection and remedy — not extensions of the abuse survivors already survived. The Reclaim Act is not radical. It does not ask for special treatment. It asks for accountability — the foundational condition without which justice cannot function. For too long, the absence of that accountability has meant that separation offered survivors a change of venue, not a change in condition. The harm continued. Only the setting changed. This legislation says that is not acceptable. The natural outcome of our systems must be safety and accountability — not the extension of coercive control through the very institutions intended to prevent it.”

Read more, including a quote from FVAP’s own Cory Hernandez, here.

Right now, so much feels unpredictable—but your support doesn’t have to be. Sustainers Circle members give on a recurring basis, creating a strong foundation that keeps life-saving legal services available to survivors, no matter what’s happening in the world.

Your ongoing support gives FVAP the freedom to focus on impact—not uncertainty.

Join the Sustainers Circle and make your support count every day of the year.