As a Fellow at the Social Justice Legal Foundation, TJ Grayson is committed to radically changing the criminal legal landscape. He is dedicated to employing movement lawyering practices to empower organizers and social movements, with a primary focus on improving the well-being of Black and Brown communities.

Prior to his role at SJLF, TJ worked as a Justice Catalyst Fellow at the Advancement Project. In this capacity, he actively supported campaigns led by Black and Brown organizers aimed at eradicating police violence. This included providing research, analysis, and strategic advising to advance specific campaign goals like ending stop and frisk, addressing jail deaths, and altering the terms of police union contracts.

During law school, TJ’s endeavors focused on using the legal system to advance racial justice. He served as the President of Yale’s Black Law Students Association, the Coker Teaching Fellow in Constitutional Law, and the Co-Director of Yale Law’s 2020 Critical Race Theory Conference on Reparations and Prison Abolition. Additionally, he was a member of both OutLaws and First-Generation Professionals. TJ also served as a legal assistant for Professor James Forman Jr. and the Justice Collaboratory, and he participated in Yale’s Advanced Appellate Litigation and Strategic Advocacy clinics.

During his summers in law school, he engaged in racial justice work related to policing, gun violence, and prison litigation. This included roles at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

TJ’s written contributions on racial justice issues have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, Slate Magazine, and The Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics.  

Outside of work, TJ enjoys playing in the sun with his husky/cattle dog mix, June, taking care of his indoor plant collection, and watching Tiny Desk concerts with friends.