Carl Lipscombe

I'm a lawyer, community organizer and immigrant's rights advocate committed to improving the social and economic welfare of marginalized communities through policy reform, grassroots organizing, litigation voter mobilization, and community empowerment.

Currently, I serve as the National Policy Coordinator at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, an organization that seeks to organizes, advocates for, and build power amongst Black immigrants, while simultaneously bridging the divide between Black Americans and immigrant communities. Before joining BAJI, I coordinated the Future of Work Initiative, a project that sought to build power amongst, and advance the rights of contingent (part-time, temporary, and subcontracted) workers in the U.S. through state and municipal policy advocates.

My professional experience has included stints as a public defender in the South Bronx, a legal advocate on behalf of immigrants and the unemployed, an editor of journals focused on public law and policy, and as a campaign organizer for local, state, and national economic justice organizations. I have also provided trainings for high school and college students on constitutional law, criminal procedure, and grassroots organizing.

In my spare time, I serve as the President of the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild - the nation's oldest and largest bar association committed to civil rights and social justice.

For my work in public service I've received several honors and awards including a Charles H. Revson Fellowship, the Jonathan A. Weiss Award for Public Advocacy, the 2013 Student Inspire! Award, a Brown Community Development Corporation Community Leadership Award, and the Kodak Young Leader's Award, amongst others.

A Bronx native, I studied philosophy at Brooklyn College, urban planning and economic development at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and earned a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.