Halimah Washington

Halimah Washington is an activist, advocate and human services professional with nearly two decades of experience working to build power for impacted communities in New York City and beyond. Halimah is also a Black Mama and a doula committed to creating a world where black mothers, children and families can be safe, seen and supported. As the Community Coordinator and Leader of the Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project at Rise, Halimah currently leads a team of impacted parents in holding community conversations and conducting community-led research to identify and develop a vision to address root causes and offer solutions to child welfare involvement. Prior to joining Rise, Halimah worked as a Facilitator for the Beyond the Bars Fellowship Program at Columbia University’s Center for Justice.

In addition to her work at Rise, Halimah continues her activism efforts with the #AbolishACS and #DefundACS campaigns and her advocacy efforts through work as a Birth Justice Defender. Halimah is a former Columbia University Beyond the Bars Fellow and NYC Department of Health Birth Justice Defender.

An Unavoidable System The Harms of Family Policing and Parents Vision for Investing in Community Care

Edward Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship

The Parallels between Criminal and Child Protective Investigations and the need for Family Miranda Rights

The New School

Child Welfare at a Crossroads Where do we go from here

Charis Books

The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America

Columbia Journal of Race and Law

Shattered Bonds