The People’s University: IRSJA and the Future of Community-Led Education and Transformational Advocacy
Abstract
Founded in 2024 by Dr. Jamila T. Davis and Angelo Pinto, Esq., the Institute for Research for Social Justice and Action (IRSJA) represents a bold new model for grassroots advocacy, education, and leadership development. Rooted in lived experience and built for system-impacted communities, IRSJA operates as a national ecosystem that bridges public health, higher education, credible messenger training, and community organizing. With active programming in five cities—Birmingham, AL; Newark, NJ; East Orange, NJ; Atlantic City, NJ; and New York City, NY—and a goal to expand into twenty cities by the end of 2025, IRSJA offers a replicable structure for community-rooted transformation. This paper traces the journey from a local Summer Work Experience Program to the founding of a national institute, and explores how initiatives like Be the Changemakers, Social Justice in Action, and the Communiversity digital platform position IRSJA as “The People’s University”—a new framework for education, healing, and advocacy led by those closest to the problem and the power.
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