Chad Stanton is the political director for SojoAction, where he leads faith-rooted advocacy efforts to advance racial, economic, and social justice through policy change, grassroots mobilization, and coalition building.
Before joining Sojourners, Chad served as a senior policy and government affairs manager at Color Of Change, where he developed legislative strategies to promote alternatives to policing and reduce the carceral system’s impact on Black communities. Over his tenure, he also worked as a campaign manager and senior political manager, supporting democracy reform, economic justice, and media accountability campaigns while collaborating with grassroots organizations and policymakers nationwide.
Chad’s career in advocacy began as an AmeriCorps VISTA fellow at American YouthWorks in Austin, Texas, where he developed peer-to-peer mentorship programs and engaged community leaders to support young people in alternative education settings. He later served as a community liaison and constituent services representative for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, organizing community initiatives, uplifting local artists, and advocating for constituents navigating government agencies.
Beyond his policy work, Chad is a writer and organizer passionate about using storytelling as a tool for social change. He remains deeply committed to movement-building, political education, and advancing an inclusive vision of justice.
Posts By This Author
The U.S. Is Playing the Wrong Role in the Good Samaritan Story
When I am acclimating myself to my neighbors, one of the things I enjoy doing is asking them how they came to be my neighbors. You never really know people’s backgrounds, and it’s always interesting to see people light up at the opportunity to tell you a bit about themselves. Very often, both in Washington D.C. and my home state of Texas, I’ll run into people from Ethiopia.
When I went to college in Austin, I got to know a lot of people whose families came from Ethiopia. In getting to know them, I learned about the conflicts that have forced people to leave their homes and to obtain protection under Temporary Protected Status in 2022 due to the nation’s ongoing wars and humanitarian crises. The TPS designation allows migrants to temporarily live in the U.S. when they cannot return to their countries safely, often due to dire circumstances. For the people I met from Ethiopia, TPS offered an escape from physical danger and a chance to thrive here in the U.S. while working to end the conflict back home and caring for their loved ones as best they can.