Meet our executive director

Marcia Robinson Lowry

is the Founder and Executive Director of A Better Childhood. Ms. Lowry is the pioneering architect of the body of law that protects the country’s most vulnerable children. Her work sheds light on the deficiencies of our country’s long-unaccountable child welfare systems.

Ms. Lowry created ABC in 2014 to develop new and innovative approaches to helping children who have been left to languish and suffer. In so doing, she continues her career-long advocacy for children. Before creating ABC, Ms. Lowry served as Founder and Executive Director of Children’s Rights for almost twenty years.  She previously was the director of the Children’s Rights Projects of the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Collaborating with policy analysts, experts, local organizations and government officials, Ms. Lowry leverages the justice system to reform child welfare programs. As the lead lawyer in class-action cases in eighteen jurisdictions across the country, Ms. Lowry’s work has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. Currently, she is active in reform efforts in Indiana, West Virginia, Oregon, New York City, Texas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, the District of Columbia and New Jersey. Her lawsuits lead to increased oversight of child welfare agencies and influence multiple jurisdictions’ allocations of billions of dollars. Most importantly, her advocacy results in better outcomes for children and families.

Using the power of the courts, her work is focused on developing and implementing realistic, long-term solutions to ensure that abused and neglected children have a chance for a better childhood.