Next week during Coffee with the Rector, we welcome guest speaker Blake Strode, Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders. ArchCity Defenders (ACD). Our conversation will be on "Re-envisioning Public Safety." Please join us for discussion! 

Blake Strode is the Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders , a nonprofit holistic legal advocacy organization in St. Louis, Missouri that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence against poor people and people of color. Blake is a native of the St. Louis region and joined ArchCity as a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney following his graduation from Harvard Law School in 2015. Blake attended the University of Arkansas and majored in International Economics and Spanish.

Before stepping into the role as Executive Director, Blake helped to establish the Civil Rights Litigation unit at ArchCity, which has brought challenges to a variety of unlawful and predatory practices including debtors' prisons, police misconduct, and inhumane jail conditions, among others. In the past few years, Blake and his colleagues have filed more than 50 civil rights cases in state and federal court, impacting upwards of 40,000 people in the St. Louis region. Blake also played a significant role in the class-action debtors' prison case against the City of Jennings, Missouri that reached a $4.75 million final settlement in December 2016. The landmark case provides a blueprint for permanent legal reform in the region's courts and afforded monetary relief to hundreds of individuals who were jailed because of their inability to pay court debts.

As Executive Director, Blake manages ArchCity’s growing and talented staff; explores new opportunities for advocacy and systemic litigation; communicates the work and mission of ACD to students, supporters, fellow advocates, and media; and works with the Board and leadership to set the strategic direction for the organization. Blake has spoken on panels throughout the country and has authored columns and essays for publication on issues of race, policing, and criminal justice. He and Kayla Reed (Executive Director of Action St. Louis) co-host a podcast called “Under the Arch,” which explores issues impacting communities in St. Louis and the people fighting to transform them. Blake’s leadership has garnered several accolades including the 2020 Missouri Lawyers Media Legal Champion, 2019 Bellow-Charn Champions of Justice Emerging Leader Award from the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, and the 2019 FOCUS St. Louis Emerging Alumni Award.