Director

Community Justice Reform Coalition

Amber Goodwin is a community organizer, and has spent the last 15 years working for advocacy, grassroots, and electoral campaigns. She currently serves as the founding Director of the Community Justice Reform Coalition (CJRC). CJRC is the nation’s leading advocacy organizing working on training, leadership development, and building resources centered on communities of color working at the nexus of gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform.

Under Ambers leadership, CJRC is filling a critical role in advocating for solutions and leadership roles for marginalized communities of color. CJRC believes that data and  evidence-based solutions led by those most impacted by gun violence and the criminal justice system will result in transformational change. CJRC focuses on alleviating gun violence in communities of color by educating stakeholders on ways to advocate for solutions that will reduce gun violence, without targeting or further harming communities of color. CJRC also amplifies the voices of people in disproportionately impacted communities and works to support new and existing leaders of the gun violence prevention movement through their intergenerational Speakers Bureau Program.

Prior to founding CJRC, Amber served as the first National Advocacy Director for Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS, now Giffords), the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly. During her time at Giffords Amber worked with state
legislative chambers across the country to successfully pass broad based legislation to close the gun show loophole, and strengthen our country’s domestic violence laws. She also helped found the Women’s Coalition for Common Sense, a multi-sector group of national women leaders who joined forces to reduce gun violence, and leads the National Gun Violence Prevention Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. Amber was also on the board of Operation L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K, a community based organization that uses peer-to-peer education and leadership development models to inform women and girls about the
dangers of buying, hiding and holding guns illegally, showcase positive role models, and change high-risk behaviors.

Previously, Amber was the National Deputy Director for Government Affairs at Enroll America, the nations leading health care organization that enrolled over 20 million consumers into the Affordable Care Act. Amber has held political positions and appointments at the Wendy Davis for Governor Campaign, SEIU Justice for Janitors Campaign, Obama for America, the Texas State Legislature, Grassroots Solutions consulting firm, and Mobilize.org. During her time at Mobilize.org, Amber founded and built a groundbreaking youth-led civic engagement public speaking training program, and was the lead author for Mobilize.org for the release of the 2013 report “Millennials Civic Health Index” in partnership with the Harvard Institute on Politics, National Council on Citizenship, and CIRCLE. She started her career working on legislative affairs for Congressman Robert Menendez and Congressman Donald Payne.

Amber was recently named to the 2018 Essence Magazine “Woke 100”, the 2017 Root 100 List of the most influential African Americans, the 2016 Women’s “Power50” list for Walkers Legacy, and is a Next Gen Fellow with the University of Texas Strauss School for International Security and Law. She has been profiled in Forbes, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Grio, Newsweek, and various other news outlets. She was awarded the 2012 Google PDF Fellowship award, and has traveled as a delegate to both Taiwan and Vietnam on behalf of the United States for bi-cultural exchanges.