We’re pleased to feature the Equal Justice Partner's Circle (EJPC) , the winner of our Community-Led Advocacy Award at the 2025 Champions for Children Giraffe Awards Luncheon!
✨ James will be recognized at the 2025 Giraffe Awards Luncheon. Join us for a morning of celebration, community, and joy!
📅 Tuesday, November 18 | 11:00 AM
📍
Maple Hill Farm Inn & Conference Center, Hallowell
🎟 Tickets are still available —tap the link below to snag 'em!
2025 Champions for Children- Sponsorship & Ticket Sales by Maine Children's Alliance
From MCA -
Next year, the Equal Justice Partners Circle (EJPC) will celebrate its 10th anniversary—a decade of community, connection, and collaboration. Hundreds of Mainers have joined the EJPC, and each year, dozens continue to show up, bringing their lived experience with poverty forefront of Maine Equal Justice’s advocacy efforts.
Within the Partners Circle, 15 members hold leadership positions on either the Housing Leadership Team or the Aspire Leadership Team, the latter of which grew out of efforts to improve and increase access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Every summer, the EJPC comes together for trainings and activities dedicated to growing the leadership skills of members, from learning how to tell individual stories to how the Maine legislature works.
EJPC leaders guide every stage of the policy process—from proposing legislative ideas and helping draft bill language to securing sponsorship in the Maine Legislature and mobilizing community support. They receive stipends for their work and serve as trusted resources for other members.
Community Organizing Director and Leadership Coach Allina Diaz emphasizes that confidence-building is central to the EJPC’s mission. “Advocates should feel safe, supported, and valued,” she says. Maine Equal Justice invests in community members from the very start of their advocacy journeys—training them to testify before the Legislature and speak to the media about EJPC priorities. Allina’s own story reflects the program’s impact: she first became involved with Maine Equal Justice as a Partners Circle member herself. The EJPC truly meets people where they are—whether that’s at a Head Start campus, through legal aid connections, or in local communities across Maine.
Last year, the Aspire team worked to pass a bill that would increase TANF for families in Maine, and they were successful. Last October, TANF participants saw a 20% increase in their cash benefit. Most team members have been on TANF or still are. The housing leadership team is on a mission to secure state-funded rent relief in Maine. In 2024, they helped pass a bill creating a program that would help pay rent for tenants facing eviction in Maine. The need was so great that the fund ran dry quickly, but EJPC be back at the state house in 2026, asking legislators to fund this program, called the Eviction Prevention Program (EPP). Both teams are effective because they know how families struggling to get by feel, and they are representing Mainers who are often overlooked and not included in problem-solving.
Maine Equal Justice ensures that team members have support, whether they are facing a financial emergency, need childcare, or a ride to a meeting; they do their best to break down those barriers. Members are then also a support for their own communities, bringing trusted resources and information to their neighbors, families, in friends.
Looking ahead to 2026, the EJPC aims to expand its leadership team to 20 members while continuing to nurture strong relationships across the entire Partners Circle. The group envisions a Maine where housing and rents are affordable, landlords are held accountable, and guaranteed income helps families thrive. Their ultimate goal: “more money and resources, to more people, with more dignity.”
In the face of federal cuts to essential programs like Medicaid and SNAP, the EJPC and leadership teams plan to expand their work into the world of federal advocacy. While the group has mostly focused on making changes in Maine, the threats to our federal public benefit systems feel personal and erode much of the great work that has moved Maine forward over the last several years. Expect to see them in 2026 and beyond, showing up for housing justice and a robust safety net for Maine people--ensuring that the voices of Mainers with lived experience remain at the center of policy decisions that effect us all.
Thank you, EJPC, for all you do for Maine’s kids and families.