Lindsey Linder

Lindsey Linder is an accomplished and dedicated senior policy attorney with a proven track record of achieving exceptional results in public health-oriented criminal justice policy. As Senior Policy Attorney for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Lindsey oversees youth justice and women’s justice initiatives.

She is most proud of developing and leading the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition’s “Justice for Women” campaign, including authoring 2 first-of-their-kind reports on the treatment of women in Texas’ justice system and co-founding a statewide coalition of formerly incarcerated women, advocates, and service providers. Lindsey led the coalition in advocating for women’s justice at the Texas Legislature in 2019, with 8 women’s justice bills ultimately signed by the Governor. She presented on the Campaign at the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls’ “Free Her” conference and at the Texas Conference for Women, and co-hosted “Women Unshackled”–a convening in Austin that brought together state and national lawmakers, agency leaders, directly impacted women, and was live-streamed into the Travis County Correctional Complex.

The campaign’s efforts have been covered by the New York Times, the Atlantic, Mother Jones, Ms. Magazine, Austin Women’s Magazine, the Dallas Morning News, Texas Public Radio, and, most recently, in an op-ed she authored for the Texas Tribune. In November, she hosted the “Texas Women’s Dignity Retreat,” a 3-day convening of formerly incarcerated women, advocates, and service providers from across Texas, including a visioning session where participants mapped out future reform priorities.

In 2006, Lindsey lost her sister to violence. That experience, coupled with her mother surviving sexual assault and domestic violence, fuels her advocacy for healthier, safer communities, where what happened to her family will not happen to others. Through the “Justice for Women” campaign, she has helped drive legislation that expands trauma-informed care and reentry services for system-involved women, the vast majority of whom have been victims of violence.

Lindsey is a proud alum of the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Louisiana Tech University, and Southern University Law Center. Prior to joining the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, she interned with UNICEF, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and is a proud graduate of the Texas Legislative Internship Program. Lindsey continues to advocate for policies that will better prevent crime, support survivors, and foster safe, healthy Texas communities.