James Haslam

James Haslam (he/him/his) serves as Senior Fellow at Race Forward leading the H.E.A.L Initiative, which will develop strong organizing models for parents and students to advance high quality public education as a building block for multiracial democracy. As a leader who grew two visionary organizations that have been central to our social and racial justice movements, he brings over two decades of labor, community, and political organizing experience. He is the founder of Rights & Democracy (RAD), a bistate grassroots movement organization in Vermont and New Hampshire with the mission to establish multi-issue organizing strategies to building power for working-class communities to advance human rights and a strong multiracial democracy. Before founding RAD, James spent over 15 years as the executive director and chief organizer with the Vermont Workers’ Center, where he helped thousands of workers organize unions, fight for workers’ rights and livable wages, and led their Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign from 2008-2015 helping pass the country’s first single-payer healthcare law that was inclusive of undocumented communities. James has played a key role in national networks and currently serves as a board member of People’s Action, Partners For Dignity and Rights and Renew New England. He has been deeply involved in pivoting our social and racial justice movements towards electoral strategies that bring our movement leaders into governance. He has previously served in active leadership roles with the Center For Popular Democracy, Jobs With Justice, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and Resource Generation. His work has included presentations and organizing tours around the country and has been published in dozens of mainstream and movement publications.