Desmond Meade

Desmond Meade is the current State Director for PICO Florida Lifelines to Healing Campaign, outgoing president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), the Chair for the Florida Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s Black Men’s Roundtable, and a 4th-year law student at Florida International University College of Law.

As State Director of the Lifelines to Healing Campaign, Desmond is currently engaged in a national campaign to reduce mass incarceration, reduce gun violence in urban communities, and re-enfranchise the over 5 million returning citizens nationally who are prevented from voting. The Lifelines to Healing Campaign is a part of the PICO National Network, the nation’s largest organizer of faith based congregations with over 1,000 member institutions. Representing over 1 million families in 150 cities and 17 states, including Florida.

As President of the FRRC, which is recognized for its work on felon disfranchisement issues, Desmond has orchestrated the reorganization and incorporation of a coalition comprised of over 70 state and national organizations and individuals which includes, but not limited to the NAACP, ACLU, PICO, Florida League of Women Voters, A. Philip Randolph Institute, PICO Florida, and Florida Immigration Coalition. Desmond has also received many accolades, celebrating his hard work and dedication to leadership and commitment to social justice. He is presently leading efforts to restore the civil rights of over 1.5 million Floridians, empower and civically re-engage local communities to reshape state level, and national policies.

Desmond has been invited to testify before Congressional members and staffers concerning disfranchisement, chosen as a “Game Changer” by Politic 365, and recognized as a “Foot Soldier” on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC. He was recently invited to serve as a delegate with the NAACP’s official delegation to the United Nation’s ICCPR Treaty Review, and was a recent guest on Democracy NOW.
Desmond is married and has five beautiful children.