Tre Murphy is a Baltimore-born organizer, movement strategist, and national leader in the racial justice field with more than 15 years of experience building power in Black communities. His work bridges grassroots organizing and institutional strategy, centering community voice in systems-level change.
Tre began organizing as a teenager with the Baltimore Algebra Project, a youth-led initiative advancing educational equity through math literacy and grassroots advocacy. Over the years, he has helped develop and sustain national coalitions including the Alliance for Educational Justice, Journey for Justice Alliance, and the Movement for Black Lives – working across education justice, housing equity, democratic governance, and civil rights enforcement.
In 2015, following the death of Freddie Gray, Tre played a key role in organizing efforts during the Baltimore Uprising, helping coordinate bail support, engage federal officials, and advance policy proposals aimed at transforming local policing systems. He later co-founded Organizing Black, an organization focused on leadership development, political education, and participatory governance in Black communities.
After serving as the first Field Organizer at the ACLU of Maryland, Tre joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) as a Senior Organizer. He was subsequently promoted to become LDF’s inaugural Deputy Director of Community Organizing, helping build and expand the department’s national infrastructure. He now serves as LDF’s second Director of Community Organizing in the organization’s history, leading a national team advancing racial justice strategies at the intersection of organizing, litigation, policy, research, and narrative change.
Across every space he enters, Tre brings a practitioner’s lens, grounded in lived experience and guided by a clear belief: durable democracy is only possible when those most impacted are meaningfully engaged in shaping it.
