Antoinette Ratcliffe

Antoinette is the Executive Director of Initiate Justice, a California nonprofit that activates the political power of the people most impacted by incarceration. Antoinette’s passion for abolition and community advocacy stems from lived experiences supporting herself and loved ones through various overlapping socio-economic issues and failed systems—from the state’s criminal legal systems and child welfare systems, to substance use and addiction and underground economies. She has organized alongside thousands, and is courageously committed to amplifying the experiences of those most impacted by the criminal legal system, and the many intersecting societal issues and failed systems.

Antoinette has facilitated a myriad of training programs to empower system-impacted people to engage in policy change; presented on Initiate Justice’s work, abolition, and advocacy in a variety of classrooms and conferences all over the state and nationally; and organized alongside thousands to advocate for legislation that is rooted in humanity, equity, and community.

She possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from California State University, Fullerton and is a Coro Women in Leadership alumnae. She is a lifelong California resident, where she and her fiancé currently reside with their 3 children and golden-doodle. Antoinette dreams of re-launching her nonprofit, Family Beyond the Gates, with a renewed vision for strengthening families at their core in order to build self-sustaining communities where all people are fully supported and resourced.