Jalyn Radziminski is the Communications Manager for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and is personally driven to unify academic, grassroots, nonprofit, legal, and policy initiatives to foster social and systematic change through intersectional and integrated approaches.
Jalyn graduated from Emory University as the first Black woman, first Japanese woman, and the first first-generation college student to receive the Marion Luther Brittain Award, the highest, most prominent honor any Emory academic division can bestow. As an undergrad, Jalyn founded Emory’s Black Mental Health Ambassadors and was a founding council member of Mental Health America’s National Collegiate Mental Health Innovation Council. As an elected representative of Emory University Senate and founding executive member of Students for Prison Education and Resistance, Jalyn advocated for the Emory Incarceration Hardship Fund to help students impacted by incarceration.
After graduation, Jalyn advocated for equity and inclusion in the voting and civic engagement space by working in Georgia as a Fair Fight Action Political Fellow and as Chief of Staff for the Georgia House of Representatives. Jalyn saw the need to encourage more diverse voter turnout and political participation in their home state, Indiana as well. Thus, Jalyn founded Count US IN, the first Indiana based initiative to educate and empower local voices as well highlight Indiana’s relevance in the national political conversations. Afterward, Jalyn became one of the American Association of People with Disabilities first Fannie Lou Hamer Organizers to increase Black, Disabled voter turnout nationwide. Radziminski also worked as Diversity Outreach Specialist at MARTA and served on the Bobby Dodd Institute’s steering committee to foster accessibility in transportation and employment.
Internationally, Jalyn has studied and worked in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands to advocate for and learn about human rights via the U.S. Department of State, Hokkaido International Foundation, and Humanity in Action. Radziminski is called to advocate for BIPOC and Disability communities and is proud to be part of the Bazelon Center’s team to continue fighting for justice, equity, and accessibility.