About Taj

Taj James is the founder and former Executive Director of the Movement Strategy Center (MSC) national intermediary, based in Oakland California, that facilitates progressive movement building through the development of strategic alliances. MSC works to support leaders, organization, alliances and foundations that are committed to building more effective and sustainable movements for justice and equity.

Before starting MSC, Taj was the Director of Youth Policy and Development At Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth where he organized youth and community member around a range of issues facing children, youth and families. Before this, Taj worked as the Western Regional Field Organizer for the Black Student Leadership Network (BSLN) a project of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Taj was on the steering committee the PAC to defeat Proposition 21, a California ballot initiative that would spend billions to incarcerate thousands of youth with adults. Taj has served on many boards of non-profits and philanthropic institutions such The Praxis Project, Youth United For Community Action, the Funders Collaborative on youth Organizing and the California Fund for Youth Organizing. Taj has written extensively on the topics of movement building, organizational change, and on the role of young people in social change. A graduate of Stanford University, Taj was a recipient of a Next Generation Leadership fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation and was named a “Local Hero” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.