Blake Strode is the Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders, a nonprofit civil rights law firm in St. Louis, Missouri. Strode helped to establish a Civil Rights Litigation unit at ArchCity as part of the effort to provide holistic legal advocacy to individuals facing state violence and the criminalization of poverty. Under Strode’s leadership, ArchCity Defenders seeks to address the needs of its clients through legal services and wraparound support while working with community partners to advocate for systemic change. Strode is a native of the St. Louis region and joined ArchCity as a staff attorney and as a public-interest law Skadden Fellow. Strode has played a significant role in multiple class-action debtors’ prison cases against several municipalities in the region, which have provided monetary relief to thousands of individuals who were jailed because of their inability to pay court debts. His role in these cases is among the more than 50 civil rights cases filed in state and federal court. Strode earned a double major in International Economics and Spanish at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He co-hosts a podcast called “Under the Arch” which highlights issues impacting communities and those working to achieve change.

NEO NEWS


NEO Philanthropy Announces Election of Kesi B. Foster as New Board Member 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – MURAL ARTIST PROJECT

Inside Philanthropy: Against Democracy Threats, the State Infrastructure Fund Channels Optimism — and Donor Dollars