Restoring Justice. Rebuilding Civic Power.
Justice System Reform Through Legal Advocacy and Reentry Leadership
We believe in justice system reform by strengthening legal access, civic participation, and reentry pathways for justice-impacted communities. We work to remove structural barriers that limit participation, opportunity, and long-term reintegration.
Justice Reform in Action
Restoring Voting Rights for 55,000+ Minnesotans
JIIVE won big. Justice-impacted folks vote right after prison. No probation wait. 55K voices reclaim power in Minnesota elections now.
Opening New Doors Through Expungement Clinic
The JIIVE’s expungement clinic cleared records for returning citizens to secure housing, led by Lovell Oates. Barriers fell.
Restoring Voting Rights for 55,000+ Minnesotans
Lovell Oates led the justice reform after the murder of Goerge Floyd. Wrongful convictions challenged. Justice-impacted voices grew stronger daily.
Lovell Oates Co-Founder of Rebuild Nations
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Years Advocacy
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Lives Impacted
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Legal Clinics
From Experience to Justice System Reform
I am Lovell Oates, Co-Founder of Rebuild Nations and a justice reform advocate committed to building fair, accountable systems.
My work is guided by personal experiences with the criminal legal system and with responsibility within justice-impacted communities. Upon returning from wrongful conviction and incarceration, I realized how limited access and opportunity are for returning citizens like me.
I committed myself to criminal justice activism with an emphasis on restoring rights. I later trained as a paralegal justice advocate.
This work led me to help build Rebuild Nations, where I serve as Co-Founder and focus on designing justice reform that supports reentry, restores access, and strengthens long-term stability for returning citizens.
Organizing through work that I and my fellow members led with JIIVE allowed me to encourage civic engagement, which in turn solidified civic participation as a core principle for justice system reform.
Key Expertise
Experience That Shaped the Rebuild Nations Model
Building Civic Power and Legal Access
Organizing & Civic Engagement
My work on justice includes years of organizing, legal advocacy, and civic engagement that directly inform the Rebuild Nations model. Through leadership roles, including work connected to JIIVE and other initiatives, I helped strengthen voter participation and expand civic power within justice-impacted communities.
Civic Participation as Infrastructure
These efforts shaped how we approach voting rights for justice-impacted individuals as a core part of reform. Civic participation is not symbolic. It is infrastructure that supports accountability and long-term change.
Legal Access & Rights Restoration
As a paralegal justice advocate, I applied legal knowledge to support advocates for the wrongfully convicted and individuals navigating complex legal barriers. My past work and experience in reentry leadership have strengthened our justice strategy at Rebuild Nations, integrating legal access and rights restoration within the community.
Civic participation is not symbolic. It is infrastructure
that supports accountability and long-term change.
— Lovell Oates
Justice Reform That Reaches Beyond the Headlines
Operational Change at the Community Level
Four Pillars of Reform
How we create lasting change in justice-impacted communities
Measurable Justice Reform Outcomes
Results That Strengthen the Rebuild Nations Mission
Through Rebuild Nations, justice reform efforts have delivered measurable outcomes across legal, civic, and reentry areas.
Supporting commutations and releases for individuals impacted by extreme sentencing
Contributing to strategies led by advocates for the wrongfully convicted
Advancing expungement efforts that strengthen reentry leadership and long-term stability
JIIVE and Civic Power Building
Laying the Foundation for Rebuild Nations
Shaping Justice Reform & Civic Engagement
My work with JIIVE played a critical role in shaping how I approach justice reform and civic engagement today. Through this work, I focused on expanding voting rights for justice-impacted individuals and strengthening civic participation within communities historically excluded from the democratic process.
Organizing & Voter Turnout
At JIIVE, I supported organizing efforts that increased voter turnout among formerly incarcerated individuals and helped build trust between justice-impacted communities and civic institutions.
Vision for Rebuild Nations
The efforts at JIIVE shaped my vision for Rebuild Nations—a platform where civic participation, legal access, and reentry support work together to restore power to justice-impacted communities.
Building trust between communities and civic institutions
JIIVE's Core Pillars
Connect with Lovell Oates
Co-Founder, Rebuild Nations
Justice Reform Advocate | Paralegal Justice Advocate | Criminal Justice Reform Speaker
Serving justice-impacted communities nationwide
Available For
Speaking Engagements
Legal Consultations
Community Training
Advocacy Partnerships
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