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Meet our Founder and National Director
Inspired by Women who led with Strength and Grace
Coretta Scott King
Ida B. Wells
Xernona Clayton
Diane Nash
Joia Erin Thornton
Joia Erin Thornton is a passionate human rights advocate, lobbyist, writer, and policy leader with two decades of experience driving social change. Her roots in Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana—two cities along the mighty Mississippi River—have profoundly shaped her worldview. These communities, steeped in deep histories of racial tension, class hierarchy, and systemic inequity, inform her bold and nuanced approach to justice.
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Joia is the founder of the Faith Leaders of Color Coalition (FLOCC), an initiative created to honor the legacy of Black and Indigenous faith leaders who have long played a pivotal role in civil and human rights movements throughout American history. She centers her work at the intersection of faith, race, and historical memory from the Southern diaspora to directly confront the United States’ ongoing relationship with the death penalty.​ Joia has also led successful legislative efforts at both the state and federal levels. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and French from Louisiana State University and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Policy and Legal Studies from the University of Memphis.
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In 2024, Joia and members of the FLOCC community met with officials at the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of the Pardon Attorney to address the urgent crisis on Federal Death Row. These efforts led to the commutation of 37 individuals from death to life sentences by former President Joseph R. Biden. Her recent honors include the Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership Grant, the Vanguard of Justice Award, and cohort member of Leadership Memphis. Joia works in close collaboration with attorneys, policy analysts, faith leaders, and strategists dedicated to the elimination of capital punishment. Most notably, she contributed to the passage of HB123 in Georgia, a landmark bill that lowers the standard of proof required for individuals with intellectual disabilities facing capital charges.
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CONTACT:
our sacred values.
1. Advocate for Policies to Eliminate the use of the capital punishment system:
flocc will tirelessly work to eliminate the American capital punishment system, addressing racial disparities, wrongful convictions, innocence claims and inhumane conditions on death row.
2. Empower Faith Leaders:
flocc will empower Black and Indigenous clergy to use their moral authority and spiritual teachings to advocate for the end to state-sanctioned death in their communities and nationwide.
3. Cast Vision:
flocc aims to educate the public about the injustices and uneven applications when death sentences are applied, particularly with white victims. flocc will introduce ways to hold district attorneys and municipalities accountable for true public safety.
4. Promote Healing:
flocc recognizes the profound trauma inflicted by the death penalty on both victims' families and those involved in the system. flocc will work toward healing, reconciliation and restoration.