James Lopez

James Lopez is an Afro-Latino native of Rochester, New York. James graduated from the University of Buffalo where he earned his degree in Psychology and African American Studies. James began organizing through legal advocacy while working with the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau in Buffalo. He then worked for the Western New York Law Center organizing with members of their consumer debt clinic, which help changed New York state policy around predatory lending, payday loans, and Community Reinvestment issues. Prior to coming to Power U, James was an organizer for VOICE-Buffalo, where he organized with residents and those formerly incarcerated in order to push policy on policing reform and alternatives to mass incarceration. He was also part of Just Resisting (JR), which is a collective of organizers of color in the city of Buffalo committed to developing transformational organizing in the city of Buffalo.

James is an alum of Black Organizing for Leader and Dignity (BOLD) Directors Training and is committed to assisting in the development of Black leadership necessary to move forward a world void of racism, sexism, and economic exploitation.