Ryan P. Haygood
Ryan P. Haygood, Esq., was elected to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Board of Trustees in July 2024, effective October 23, 2024.
Ryan, a nationally respected civil rights lawyer, is president & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. In that role, he leads a staff of racial justice advocates who use cutting-edge racial and social justice advocacy to empower people of color by building reparative systems that create wealth, transform justice, and harness democratic power—from the ground up—in New Jersey.
Under Ryan’s leadership, the Institute’s racial justice advocacy has become a model for states as places to build community power from the ground up.
The Institute led historic campaigns to strengthen and expand New Jersey’s democracy, including restoring the vote to 83,000 people on probation and parole, a right denied since 1844; establishing online voter registration and early voting; ending prison-based gerrymandering; and lowering the voting age to 16 for Newark School Board elections.
The Institute is also a leading voice on New Jersey’s staggering racial wealth gap, publishing original data and championing policies like the $15 minimum wage, universal basic income and baby bonds. The organization also works to expand homeownership opportunities, establish fair home appraisal policies, and cancel student loan debt.
As part of its economic justice work, the Institute convened the first-of-its-kind New Jersey Reparations Council to finally confront and repair the enduring harm from slavery in the Garden State.
Under Ryan’s leadership, the Institute has also been at the forefront in the movement to reduce the footprint of law enforcement and help keep communities safe, including championing a statewide First Amendment policy to protect the right to record police conduct; a historic closure announcement for two of New Jersey’s youth prisons; and a nearly $10 million investment in youth restorative justice hubs in communities most impacted by youth incarceration.
As a member on the Independent Monitoring Team overseeing the Newark Police Division’s Consent Decree with the Department of Justice, the Institute has led the effort to center community engagement in the development of 16 new policies urged by Newark residents since the 1967 Newark Rebellion.