Message from the Director Sarah R. Guidry
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
— Mahatma Gandhi —
The Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy, "Creating a new vision for legal and social justice."
For over three decades, the Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy has been a beacon of advocacy, education, and empowerment. We were founded in 1992 with a bold purpose: to create a new vision for legal and social justice. Today, that vision is more urgent—and more achievable—than ever.
We are ECI. We are truth-tellers, change-makers, and community builders. We believe that justice should be accessible, that policy should reflect lived experience, and that every student deserves the opportunity to use their legal education to uplift others.
Our mission is to promote social justice and create systemic change through innovative research, legal representation, advocacy, and community engagement. We do this by freeing the innocent, helping children today to have a better future tomorrow, and increasing wealth through homeownership. We take it to the streets through our TMSL Street Law Program, and we amplify voices through The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy.
Students who join us don’t just learn the law—they live it. Through our Skills Enhancement Program, Paralegal Pathways Program, and hands-on legal internships, externship placements and clinics, students gain real-world experience while serving communities in need. They participate in expungement clinics, estate planning workshops, immigration services, and more. They become part of a movement that is reducing disproportionality and disparity, serving the community, and creating opportunities to promote policy change.
For our donors and partners, ECI offers a powerful return on investment: lives changed, policies reformed, and futures rewritten. With your support, we’ve expanded our reach, secured millions in funding, and launched transformative initiatives like the Immigration Citizenship Clinic, the Fort Bend Civil Legal Services Project, and the Heirs’ Property Project.
We are proud to have collaborated with over 50 organizations, and we welcome new partners who share our commitment to justice. Whether you’re a policymaker, educator, legal professional, or community advocate, there is a place for you at ECI.
As we move forward under our 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, we remain focused on student development, sustainable funding, expanding our presence and influence, operational efficiency, thought leadership, and board engagement. But more than anything, we remain committed to our founding belief: that justice is not just a legal principle—it’s a lived experience.
Join us. Learn with us. Build with us. Because truth matters. Because justice matters. Because the future is ours to shape. Become a part of the Movement.
Sarah R. Guidry
Executive Director
Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy
Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University
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