PLEDJ's work focuses on people in the Global South who are in positions of structural marginalization made vulnerable because of their economic, social or political status, such as women, indigenous peoples, racial and religious minorities, and refugees. PLEDJ engages leaders and activists from these communities in the design of practical models of civic organization, social work, capacity-building, and research which directly impact their lives. PLEDJ works with academic and policy-making partners to develop interdisciplinary programs that provide innovative education and training solutions that address unequal balances of power that marginalized peoples face.