Professor Saundra Y. Addison-Britto
Professor S.Y. Addison-Britto is a social justice advocate who has worked for many years advocating on behalf of communities of color, women and other marginalized groups. Her entry into social justice began in childhood as a member of her dad’s Pentecostal church where black liberation theology and conversations about civil rights and human rights were common threads weaved into the Sunday morning sermons and weekly Bible study discussion groups.Professor Addison-Britto’s professional career began in the late 70s in banking. In 1989 she left banking to pursue a career in the public sector.In 1992she served as Project Manager for Welfare Reform for the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women. She worked as a lobbyist and advocate for economically disadvantaged communities especially women of color, poor women and children. In this role she was featured on several local television news broadcasts in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia; as well as nationwide. In 1994 she was interviewed by Steve Kroft on the CBS weekly broadcast of ‘60 Minutes.’In 1994 she launched a grassroots campaign for an at-large seat on the Newark City Council. Through this grassroots movement she established Addison-Simpson Associates, Inc., a political consultant firm to support the candidacy primarily of women but also men who otherwise would not have the resources or support to run for public office at the city, county and state levels.In 2004 Professor Addison-Britto accepted a position with a non-profit organization whose mission it was to assist the formerly incarcerated in successfully transitioning back into the community following periods of incarceration. In this role she successfully developed a life skills training program for women and men incarcerated. The goal of the training was to address socially conditioned negative patterns of thought while inspiring hope and possibility for a renewed life. More than 1,000 men and women incarcerated participated in her workshops which were conducted twice weekly in the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, NJ and other penal institutions throughout the state. In addition, Professor Addison-Britto successfully expanded an existing family unification program to bridge the gap between parents and their children during and after periods of incarceration. Through this program hundreds of children were provided free transportation and weekly contact visits with their incarcerated parents in a supervised and humane environment.Professor Addison-Britto continues to challenge conventional knowledge about the nature of reality; and specifically social constructs of patriarchy, masculinity and femininity that she believes do not support life, love and liberty. Her pedagogy combines academic learning with engaged spirituality as she continues to forge pathways to social and political change.Professor Addison-Britto is a minister in the New Thought and Ancestral traditions and a founding member of Women to Women Ministries, Inc., (W2W 1998) NJ, where she facilitates engaged learning workshops and training sessions in spirituality and sexuality, agency and social change.Professor Addison-Britto is currently an adjunct professor in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey. She previously taught at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison.Professor Addison-Britto holds a Certificate in Banking from the American Institute of Banking; a Certificate in Theological Studies from the Newark School of Theology; a Bachelor’s of Arts in Christian Theology from the College of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ; a Master’s of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; and Doctoral studies in World Religions, Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA.Professor Addison-Britto is married to Senior Bishop Milton F. Britto and is a mother and grandmother.
