Who we are

Built by the people the system shut out.

Full Citizens Coalition was founded in Hartford in April 2018 by people directly impacted by Connecticut's criminal legal system. The goal has never changed: full citizenship for us and our communities.

FCC organizers standing together in a plaza — FCC organizers.

Founded: April 2018, Hartford
Cities: Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New Haven
Led by: Formerly incarcerated people
Fiscal sponsor: Dwight Hall at Yale

How we began

One law, then a movement

James Jeter Jr. and Kennard Ray started FCC with one target: Connecticut's law that stripped the vote from people on parole. Our Unlock the Vote campaign ran for three and a half years across Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport and New Haven.

In June 2021, Governor Lamont signed Public Act 21-2. Roughly 4,000 people on parole got their vote back.

Since then we have grown into credible messenger violence interruption, wrongful conviction and commutation campaigns, juvenile justice reform, and Cultural Abolition, our framework for changing the culture that keeps mass incarceration in place.

What we believe

Three commitments

Directly impacted leadership
The people most harmed by a system should lead the effort to change it.
Full citizenship for all
Everyone gets to vote, be heard and shape their community. No asterisks.
Community healing
We rebuild the trust, dignity and power that punishment took from our neighborhoods.

Where we organize

Four cities since Unlock the Vote

Hartford
Where FCC started. Home of our Credible Messenger Mentor Program with CT State Community College and the City of Hartford.
Credible Messenger program
Waterbury
An Unlock the Vote city, where our members stand with Saving Our Youth, the city's community stop-the-violence initiative.
Community work
New Haven
Home of our Civic Allyship Initiative at Dwight Hall, Yale, and the fight to free Maleek Jones.
Wrongful convictions
Bridgeport
An Unlock the Vote city since 2018, with voter education and outreach to people coming home.
Volunteer here

Meet the people doing the work

Our leaders came home and went straight back to organizing

Two FCC organizers in We Fight Back shirts talking in the office — In the FCC office.

Our funders

Institutions that back directly impacted leadership

CT Health FoundationCivic education and health equity
Tow FoundationJustice reform
Universal Health Care FoundationPower-building and health justice
Hartford Foundation for Public GivingGreater Hartford organizing
Dwight Hall at YaleFiscal sponsor

Partner with us

It started with the vote.

Directly impacted leadership

Full citizenship for all

Community healing

Hartford

Waterbury

New Haven

Bridgeport

Lived experience is the qualification.