“To do things differently, we also have to be a different kind of organisation. How can we build an organisation that lives its values of anti-oppression, justice, and intersectionality not only in how it approaches working with the communities it seeks to serve, but also in the way it works internally, in its systems, processes, and internal power-sharing? How do we care properly for our team and our partners in doing long-term, challenging, and often personal work? What should accountability look like? How can and should we fund this work? And what implications do these choices have for navigating both the expectations and requirements of external stakeholders?” 

– Nani Jansen Reventlow, 2022

Our purpose

Systemic Justice exists to radically shift what justice looks like – and who gets to shape it. We partner with communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice, using strategic litigation as a force for systemic change.

As the first Black-founded and majority BPOC organisation in Europe to centre a community-driven, intersectional approach to strategic litigation, we stand firmly in a different tradition of justice work. At Systemic Justice, communities most impacted by injustice are our co-strategists: they set the direction, define the priorities, and build the long-term change they want to see. This is how we shift who holds power, who defines harm, and who drives the fight for justice.

Founded in 2021 by human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow, Systemic Justice was born from a legacy of Black leadership that continues to animate our purpose. Our Black-founded origins continue to shape how we show up, how we make decisions, and how we build power with communities across Europe.

Since 2026, Systemic Justice is led by decolonial feminist leader Saranel Benjamin, who has carried this vision forward, anchoring the organisation in its foundational commitments to anti-oppression, intersectionality, and justice.

Our majority BPOC team brings lived experience, legal and advocacy expertise, and deep movement-rooted insight. We are here to transform systems: boldly, collectively, and together with the communities whose futures are on the line leading every step of the way.

why we exist

Fundamental and structural disadvantage is not abstract. Racialised communities are disproportionately impacted by state violence and surveillance. Migrants and people on the move face inhumane treatment at and within Europe’s borders. Access to housing, credit, social protection and public services is often shaped by systems that embed and reproduce inequality.

The law can be a powerful lever for change. Court decisions can reshape policy, shift public debate and force institutions to act. But strategic litigation remains out of reach for many of the communities who most need it. Legal processes are costly and complex, and the legal profession itself often fails to reflect the societies it serves.

This means that too often, legal strategies are developed about communities, rather than with them.

We exist to change that.

By building long-term, participatory partnerships, we work with communities to develop litigation strategies that are rooted in lived experience, connected to wider campaigns, and designed to support structural change. Our aim is not only to win cases, but to build knowledge, confidence and collective power so communities can engage the law on their own terms.