About JusticeText

JusticeText is a Bloomberg Beta and True Ventures-backed startup that is building technology to improve criminal justice outcomes for low-income Americans.

We work with public defense agencies across the country to develop video evidence management software that strengthens their ability to advocate for everyday citizens. Racial and economic justice is at the core of our company mission, and we believe technological innovation has an important role to play in this movement.

Our AI-powered video evidence management platform enables public defense attorneys to more effectively identify relevant insights from audiovisual evidence - like body-worn cameras, interrogation videos, and jails calls - in order to hold police accountable. By providing value for public defense attorneys, we aim to ensure fairer outcomes for those most vulnerable.

“I do have a case right now where a client looking at damn near 100 years in prison needs help. Specifically, there are about 500 jail calls that need to be reviewed in hopes that we can find the needle of one conversation in that larger haystack of 500 jail calls." - Public Defender and JusticeText Partner

Company History

JusticeText was co-founded by Devshi Mehrotra and Leslie Jones-Dove in January 2019 while they were both computer science students at the University of Chicago. As technologists of color, our work is grounded in both a sociological and historical appreciation for the complexities of the American criminal justice system—with its gaping faults and inequality but also its capacity for reform. The founding team has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, MIT Solve, and SXSW Pitch.

The company has raised nearly $3M in funding — including a $2M+ seed round announced in Fall 2022 — from Silicon Valley VC firms like Bloomberg Beta and True Ventures and angel investors like John Legend, Reid Hoffman, and Michael Tubbs.

To date, JusticeText partners with more than 100 public defense agencies and private practice criminal defense attorneys across the country, including a flagship partnership with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. The team is exciting to continue this rapid growth into 2023 and beyond.

Role Overview

JusticeText is hiring a Marketing Lead to leverage recent success to build strong brand awareness and propel our next stage of growth. We’ve built a strong product that resonates with our customer base of public defenders and private practice criminal defense attorneys. As the first marketing hire, we’re excited for you to creatively and consistently illuminate the JusticeText story in order to engage passionate advocates for justice.

We are looking for a six-month contractor role, with potential for a long-term hire. This is a full-time, remote-first role with some travel for industry events.

Responsibilities

While no day will look exactly the same, most work will fall into these core responsibilities.

• Manage the relationship with relevant trade associations
• Identify relevant conferences to attend and draft a game-plan
• Coordinate and lead panels/webinars
• Conduct client interviews and write partnership announcements + case studies
• Write social media copy
• Have a strong eye for design and be able to communicate requirements to design team
• Regularly refresh website to highlight most relevant and engaging content
• Build and manage relationships with press
• Draft compelling pitches and press releases
• Actively propose creative growth strategies (promotion with legal influencers, etc)

The ideal candidate

• Has ~2-3 years of work experience communicating the story of a brand in a way that leads to meaningful business outcomes
• Has a strong bias to action, with experience and comfort independently driving work from idea to completion
• Is a creative storyteller that can develop engaging content across different media to move an audience to action
• Is a strong relationship-builder that can easily build trust with a diverse group of stakeholders, including public defenders
• Is an exceptional written and verbal communicator that can distill complex ideas to easy-to-understand, engaging, and persuasive content
• Learns quickly, with an eagerness to explore the full marketing toolkit and leverage the most effective strategies, even if those strategies are less familiar
• Has enough technical fluency to understand JusticeText’s product and position and communicate this effectively to a non-technical audience
• Is passionate about the racial and economic justice issues that motivate this work
• Is empathetic and can contribute to work culture that centers kindness, respect, and inclusivity
• Is open to travel to represent JusticeText at in-person gatherings in the public defense community around the United States.

Bonus points if you have:

• Experience marketing in a B2B SaaS environment
• Experience with a mission-driven product and brand
• Previous work in criminal justice and/or the legal system

Why join?

• Leverage your creative marketing skills to tell stories on critical criminal justice issues
• Help increase JusticeText’s ability to add support for overburdened public defenders across the county
• Join a small, scrappy team where you can truly own your work and every project makes a difference for the direction of the organization
• Build experience and learn quickly in a fast-paced startup environment

Application and Next Steps

To apply, please submit your resume and a 250-word response to the question “Why JusticeText?” Select, qualified applicants will be invited to interview with our team.

In addition, we’ve found that reviewing prior work can be effective ways to quickly see how people operate. We would welcome 1-2 examples (maximum) of any previous work that aligns with the role description above. This can be written content, press pieces, event plans, webinars, social content, or anything that else that could be somewhat related to this role. Note that this is optional and is not a requirement to apply.

Please note that is there no perfect profile. Research shows that underrepresented applicants tend to downplay their qualifications. Rather than checking all the boxes, we’re looking for someone who brings experience and excitement that can help take JusticeText to the next level. If you think you might be a good fit, please apply.