S. Mandisa Moore-O'Neal (she/her) is the Executive Director of CHLP, an abolitionist legal and policy organization that operates within and around the criminal legal and public health systems at the state and federal level to craft just policies that amplify the power of mobilizations for systemic change that are guided by racial, gender, and economic justice. Based in New Orleans, she is a Black feminist attorney, a trained facilitator, and a cultural and political strategist. Before joining CHLP, Mandisa founded The Moore-O'Neal Law Group, LLC, a Black Feminist law and policy practice. Her practice focused on HIV decriminalization litigation, education and advocacy; family law litigation, education and advocacy; employment and public accommodations discrimination litigation and education; and police accountability litigation and advocacy. She was also the Litigation and Policy Director at Frontline Legal Services from 2017 until 2022. Mandisa is a founding member of the Louisiana Coalition on Criminalization and Health and in 2012 received her JD from Louisiana State University Law Center. Mandisa has researched, published and presented on abolitionist lawyering, reproductive justice and the law, HIV decriminalization, punitive social policies, and state violence. At its core, her legal work is best defined as using a Black feminist and abolitionist framework to craft legal strategies that move us closer to liberation.
