Activist Brittany Packnett is coming to Disrupt NY

Words cannot express my excitement, but they’ll have to do. Brittany Packnett, VP of National Community Alliances at Teach For America, co-founder of social justice organization Campaign Zero and social justice activist, will be joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt New York in May.

I first heard Packnett speak at the Obama administration’s South by South Lawn festival at the White House, where she schooled us about social justice activism and her work through Campaign Zero. It was awesome.

Campaign Zero does a lot of work around police violence, but its mission is much bigger than that, Packnett said.

“What we are incredibly clear about is police violence is a branch on a larger tree that is rooted in systemic oppression and racism,” Packnett said. “And coming out of that tree is inequitable housing, issues of employment, mass incarceration, healthcare, inequitable education. So the radical dream is not just to break off the branch of police violence but to uproot the entire tree.”

Through Campaign Zero, anyone can access a variety of information and tools to take action around issues ranging from police violence to mass incarceration to unemployment. Last September, Campaign Zero released a police use-of-force policy analysis that looked at the data from 91 of the 100 largest police departments throughout the country. The team found that police departments with more restrictive use-of-force guidelines have the fewest officer-involved shootings per capita. After the election of 45, Campaign Zero released an agenda to resist the president of the United States and end police violence.

At Disrupt NY, we’re going to chat with Packnett about technology’s role in social justice activism, resisting 45 and much more. You don’t want to miss this.

The event is going down May 15-17 in Manhattan. You can snag your tickets here. Also, pssst! If you’re a student, a nonprofit or in the military, you can get discounted tickets.

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