Building lasting criminal justice reform requires direct engagement with directly impacted people, policymakers, community leaders, and national organizations. Work across states has focused on strengthening collaboration and addressing needs at every stage — from improving conditions of confinement to advancing reentry success — with a commitment to family stability, public health, racial equity, and sustainable community outcomes. Partnerships have been developed across political lines and sectors, leading initiatives that deliver practical reforms in incarceration policy, reentry planning, and systemic equity.
Mobilizing Justice-Impacted Youth for Gun Violence Prevention Advocacy
At Hour Children, led a trauma-informed leadership program for teens. Following the Parkland shooting, facilitated weekly sessions on community safety, advocacy, and public leadership, culminating in teen-led participation in the March for Our Lives rally and national gun violence prevention efforts.
National and State-Level Stakeholder Engagement
Established partnerships across sectors — including public health agencies, workforce development programs, veteran service organizations, housing providers, and reentry advocates — to support statewide and national reentry and justice system initiatives.
Family Visiting Reform
Provided policy guidance to the Mayor’s Office and Department of Correction on redesigning visiting practices to prioritize trauma-informed environments and strengthen family connections within correctional facilities.
Racial Equity Framework Development
Contributed to the design and implementation of the organizational racial equity strategy, embedding equity principles into technical assistance operations, staffing practices, and national justice reform projects.
Leading a 50-Organization Advocacy Campaign to Protect Women Transferred From Rikers Island
Coordinated a rapid-response advocacy campaign in October 2021 to address the emergency transfer of women and transgender individuals from Rikers Island to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Partnered with New York State Assembly Member Nily Rozic to draft a detailed policy letter to Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Bill de Blasio, outlining urgent demands to protect access to legal services, family visiting, reentry programming, and medical care.
Mobilized more than 50 social justice, reentry, and service provider organizations to sign on to the letter within 24 hours. Centered the concerns of justice-impacted women and transgender individuals by elevating their voices at the height of the crisis. Advocacy efforts focused on securing expanded visiting hours, protections against punitive segregation, guaranteed access to medication-assisted treatment, and the preservation of free phone calls for families and counsel.
Result
Following sustained advocacy and the stabilization of correctional staffing levels, the City and State reversed course. All women and transgender individuals remaining at Bedford Hills were transferred back to the Rose M. Singer Center (RMSC) on Rikers Island, restoring proximity to families, courts, legal counsel, and critical reentry services.
The campaign secured critical interim protections during the transfer period and contributed to achieving the broader goal of reuniting incarcerated individuals with their support networks, reinforcing access to justice and continuity of care.
