Until I crossed over into philanthropy in 2018, I spent my career fighting on the front lines of criminal justice reform—as an organizer, advocate, and campaigner. I’ve been in the trenches of this work when we lost way more than we won. I know the deep, painful sting of losing a major campaign that you’ve thrown your whole heart into. I also know what it feels like to be part of progress. It’s these experiences that built my advocacy chops and taught me that the pathway to real change is crooked, rife with setbacks, and that no map exists to help you traverse it.

My journey began in an administrative role with the California Appellate Project, an organization that provides legal services to people in California facing execution. There I learned about the harm and stigma that our punitive, unforgiving system has on communities and families, including my own. I then spent the next ten years working at the ACLU, ultimately as director of criminal justice reform. Using integrated advocacy, I worked to advance issues including sentencing reform, reducing use of the death penalty, legislative and administrative reforms around wrongful convictions, and greater prosecutorial accountability through voter education and engagement. During these years, I also served in leadership roles in two California ballot measures: as Deputy Campaign Manager for Yes on 34 in 2012 and as Campaign Manager for No on 66 in 2016. And I launched the first ever statewide prosecutor accountability campaign, simply called: “Meet Your DA.”

In my advocacy life, I was deeply frustrated with the extreme lack of resources in our movement—especially for organizations with directly impacted leaders. I saw philanthropy as a critical unlock and eventually moved into a new role as director of criminal justice reform at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which became one of the largest funders of frontline criminal justice reform work in the country—a $143 million portfolio in just under three years. My team at CZI backed key wins like Measure 110 in Oregon to decriminalize all drug possession; helped defeat Proposition 20 in California, which sought to roll back key justice reforms; funded the Clean Slate Initiative, supporting record-clearing policies for millions of people in Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, and other states; and, importantly, supported countless reform and organizing efforts led by directly impacted groups, in states often passed over like West Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

In my personal life, I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of Openhouse in San Francisco, which serves LGBTQ+ seniors. It’s an honor and a privilege to now lead The Just Trust—where I get to wear all of my hats and channel the stings of losses, the glory of wins, and the hope that I feel from across this powerful, diverse, ever-evolving fight for justice, safety, and wellbeing.

As a Southern-raised person of color, I have seen the beauty within my community and felt the pain toward it as well. I have personally seen many strokes of criminal injustice plague my family, from childhood to adulthood. As a child, my entrepreneur parents always instilled a need for education and business savvy. So I went to school for business administration with a concentration in accounting at Howard University. After graduating, I went into corporate accounting at Stewart Title Guaranty headquarters and worked my way up to Senior Accountant. While there, I developed an appreciation of financial reporting and internal audit controls. Yet, I felt that my profession was misaligned with my passion for social justice, which I was starting to explore through volunteerism.

By expanding my social lens, I learned more about inequities within the community. So I transitioned into the social sector focusing on education reform, as education had given me so many opportunities. In 2014, I applied for the Education Pioneers Fellowship, which connects analysts with a full-time work placement within an education organization to lead or support strategic, analytically driven work. I was selected from thousands of top graduate students and professionals to work with Tennessee SCORE, one of the largest education advocacy organizations in the state. I collaborated with the executive team on critical grant compliance, internal audit, budgeting, and business administration functionalities to drive continued organizational growth. After my fellowship, I continued my commitment to education reform by joining New Teacher Center, where I further honed my skills and engaged with and advised the senior management for six years.

The pandemic reawakened my passion for criminal justice reform. Even though I had volunteered with organizations spanning from Big Brother Big Sister, YMCA, Child Advocates, and United Way in programs that supported social and criminal justice reform, it was not enough for me. I wanted to be a part of an organization at the forefront of transforming the criminal justice system. The mission of The Just Trust aligns with my life’s purpose and passion that life as a whole should be equitable in justice, health, education, and economic opportunity regardless of status or color. So as a dedicated servant to equity and justice, I bring my background in business administration, accounting, financial planning and analysis, and operational oversight to The Just Trust with the desire to provide the infrastructure support needed for this organization to soar in its groundbreaking mission.

My work and passion for community mobilization and fighting social injustice is rooted in being a first-generation immigrant from the Bronx, New York. For many, the first-gen immigrant experience entails being a point of contact for your family and/or community, as well as navigating and translating systems that are intentionally inaccessible. I got my Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice, Behavior and Law from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, with the intention of being a lawyer to help others navigate challenging legal systems. I quickly learned, however, that my true work was on the ground, building mobilization and consensus to ensure there was true investment in communities that have been left behind. 

This led me to pursue my MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management & Policy at NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where I specialized in advocacy. It was important to me to learn the tools to advocate and organize myself and my communities effectively. I also worked for the Center for Justice Innovation conducting governmental affairs research on city and state budgets, policy trends and elected official policy profiles. 

At the end of 2020, I began as a program coordinator for advocacy & partnerships at Vera Institute of Justice. In this role, I was able to split my work between managing projects and goals for legislative, movement and budget advocacy while also designing and co-creating advocacy training spaces. I also volunteered on two separate NYC city council campaigns, one of which is my current city council member. I know that criminal justice reform and true transformation is not one-tracked and holds multiple approaches, many of which Black communities and communities of color have been vouching for. I lead my work through centering racial equity, people, and communities, and through restorative justice. I am proud to continue this at The Just Trust. With my role at The Just Trust, I hope to help sustain a model that leans into recognizing and investing in the work of advocates and system-impacted folks.

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I’ve always believed in the power of philanthropy and grantmaking to bring about positive change – to support work that transforms systems and improves real peoples’ lives. That’s why I’m so honored to bring my background in grantmaking operations and impact, along with my studies in community development, restorative justice, and public interest law, to the fight for criminal justice reform, and for safer, stronger communities.

Before joining The Just Trust, I spent more than a decade learning the ins and outs of grant lifecycle administration in the fields of education, public health, and health research. At the Philadelphia Youth Network, I focused on grants supporting youth workforce development. I then managed federal, state, and city grants funding public health initiatives at the Fund for Public Health in New York City. From there, I went on to lead grants management operations at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Work across these fields has taught me that grantmaking is most effective when it is strategic and trust-based. The Just Trust and its partners embody this approach, and I am so proud to be a part of this mission.

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My journey into this work began the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. I participated in a summer program focused on the intersection of identity and how society and systems conspire to sort people in positions of power and privilege. This experience created the seed for my life’s work, which has focused on interrupting the conscious and unconscious dynamics that prevent our collective selves from accessing opportunities to become our best humans. I believe that the structures of our criminal justice system prevent both people and communities from achieving the freedom that our nation says it promises.

Before the Just Trust, I served on the program team at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) supporting grantmaking in areas of criminal justice reform, economic justice, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, immigrant rights, reproductive justice, and racial equity. I supported ZSR’s sabbatical
program and launched a nonprofit internship program aimed at increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the nonprofit sector by providing paid internships. I also spearheaded the creation of an endowed scholarship fund in memory of Darryl Hunt, a wrongfully convicted Black man who spent nearly 20 years in prison. Prior to ZSR, I worked at One Economy Corporation providing strategies to rural communities on broadband adoption. I began my career in philanthropy at the Winston-Salem Foundation serving in various roles, including launching the Black Philanthropy Initiative aimed at increasing the voices of African Americans in the field. I graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in political science and am now pursuing an M.P.A. at UNC Charlotte.

In my personal life, I am a doting father to my kids Dial Jean and Ellington, avid and unrequited fan of the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Guardians, sometimes golfer and homebrewer, and aspiring cook. I am honored to be a part of the Just Trust team to focus more deeply and intently on critical criminal justice reform issues.

Sometimes you find the work, and sometimes the work finds you. In my case, the latter is true. My career thus far has been a tour of systems change, working in the agricultural sector, sustainable and ethical production, immigration reform, housing affordability, and criminal justice reform. Each experience guided me to the next, and taught me not only about the deep intersectionality of our most pressing issues, but also about the critical role that story and narrative can/must play in shifting both policy and practice.

Prior to joining The Just Trust, I led communications for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Justice & Opportunity portfolio, covering numerous issue areas in addition to criminal justice reform. I’m proud to have led strategic communications for the organization’s 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 investments — from major ballot measure campaigns to state-based legislative efforts. I also helped launch one of CZI’s first news media grants portfolio.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in international peace and conflict studies, I spent time working with public relations and communications firms before eventually joining the Oakland-based nonprofit Fair Trade USA. In addition to managing internal and external communications, I worked on numerous national brand campaigns — with integrated grassroots efforts — to increase consumer awareness of and demand for responsibly made goods. I had the honor of collaborating with leaders like Patagonia, Athleta, Whole Foods Market, Kroger, PepsiCo, Ben & Jerry’s, and many other brands to launch and promote ethical products, and to center the voices of those closest to the issues — the farmers, workers, and fishermen themselves.

Now, the gravitational pull I feel toward criminal justice reform comes from a hard truth I’ve come to understand deeply — that when people fall through the cracks of our other systems, the criminal justice system is always there to catch them. I hope that my experience leading brand and communications work across social justice fields, including movement building and policy efforts, can help to change this.

Through my early career experiences, I learned firsthand about the inequities, harms, and failures of our criminal justice system. As the founding director of a reentry program in Santa Cruz County—while simultaneously working in a leadership role at a local syringe exchange program—I saw people cycle through the syringe exchange right into the jails, without the opportunity to access housing, healthcare, treatment, or other services.

I witnessed the justice system further harm individuals, their families, and their communities by treating public health and poverty-related issues as crimes.
These experiences compelled me to pursue a career reforming our criminal laws.

Prior to joining The Just Trust, I was the criminal justice policy director at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. I’ve also held roles at the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the ACLU. At the DPA, I directed the organization’s national marijuana policy work; played a key role in the Prop 64 campaign to legalize marijuana and reduce criminal penalties; authored several pieces of legislation across multiple states; and drafted numerous amicus briefs challenging the application of draconian criminal laws. While at the ACLU, I managed then Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy in California, and worked extensively on the Prop 47 campaign to reduce several drug and property-related felonies to misdemeanors.

I earned my J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and M.Sc. in criminal justice policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. I’ve authored several reports on the criminal legal system, and co-authored two law review articles. Much of this work has been cited in media outlets like The New York Times, The Economist, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, CNN, USA Today, and Reuters. In my free time, I’ve spent nearly a decade as a restorative justice practitioner inside San Quentin State Prison, and I currently sit on the board of Esq. Apprentice.

I operate with the foundational belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, have agency over their lives, and be seen, heard, and valued, no matter what. This is a huge part of why I have dedicated my professional life to systems change in education, the food system, and inside organizations. After two decades in the social change sector, I’ve realized that my gifts in facilitation, organizational development, and coaching emerging leaders are critical to helping align internal work with an external vision for the world. I am a trained anti-racism facilitator and trainer, and I bring the belief that systems and structures can either help us move more effectively towards our shared goals or actively work against us. 

Prior to joining The Just Trust I was the Executive Director of Maker Ed, an organization committed to transforming education with project-based, culturally competent pedagogy. Before that I was Managing Director of the Edible School Project for almost two decades, where I supported Alice Waters and oversaw major partnerships, curriculum development, and strategic growth. I advised on USDA policy for school food, and built a globally renowned professional development for educators integrating food and environmental justice into the math, science, and history curriculum.   

In my personal capacity I serve on the boards of The Field Semester and Acta Non Verba. I live in Oakland with my wife, two children, our dog and 10 chickens. My family has been personally impacted by a criminal legal system that does not actively deliver on justice, and I hope that my contributions to the internal systems and structures at The Just Trust can help our team meet our ambitious goals. We are cooking, playing, building community and doing our best to live with joy and justice at the forefront of each day.

Growing up in East Oakland, I experienced firsthand the genius, beauty and strength of a diverse community—as well as the consequences of underinvestment and systemic inequity which prevented my community from truly thriving. My father, a newspaper reporter and editor, instilled in me a duty to educate myself on current events and politics, and my mother, a nurse practitioner, taught me the importance of individual health and showed how that affects the health of a community.

Such an upbringing shaped my understanding of our world as simultaneously full of injustice and full of opportunity. In 2017, that understanding was confirmed as I got the opportunity to visit San Quentin state prison in the Bay Area. That experience changed my life, as I saw our current criminal justice system up close, from the horror of the gas chamber previously used for executions, to the cramped and degrading conditions for the men incarcerated there. Beyond touring the facility, our team was able to sit in a small circle and speak openly and honestly with several of the men. After just a few minutes, all of my preconceived notions disappeared as I witnessed their brilliance, humility, and humanity as we got to know each other, and my resolve deepened to fix our broken justice system.

Professionally, I have instinctively gravitated towards opportunities to enact systems change which create justice and opportunity for the most vulnerable in our community. Before arriving at The Just Trust, my journey has taken me to Code For America, Hack The Hood, Mindful Life Project and Dream Corps, where I have had the privilege to work with some truly transformational philanthropic partners including the Knight Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Ford Foundation, Google.org, and the Bezos Earth Fund.

I graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Politics (Highest Honors In The Major). I currently live in Sacramento, California with my incredible wife Sarah and two troublemaking kids Lincoln and Vera, and enjoy soccer, hiking, podcasts, salmiakki, and chess.

As a daughter of immigrants, my passion for public health equity and violence prevention is rooted in my experience of seeing firsthand how health disparities are linked to access to social systems such as education, employment, and housing. Early in my career, while working with South Asian domestic violence survivors and developing anti-trafficking programs in Eastern Europe, I first recognized violence as a public health issue. I also learned that lasting change on the ground is not possible without the leadership of movement builders and advocates, a belief I still hold today.

Prior to The Just Trust, I worked in policy research and analysis and philanthropy. At Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where I designed research and policy analysis in partnership with communities around the globe, I managed a project that looked at the increase in violence against women and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic and created tools for advocates. I also advanced research initiatives focused on reproductive justice, maternal and child health, and Title X, using a racial and gender justice lens.

My philanthropy experience is rooted in grassroots social change and a desire to understand how organizations are resourced. While at The Global Fund for Children, I worked with brilliant leaders in Washington, DC, who led literacy initiatives for incarcerated youth and helped decrease recidivism rates. I also partnered with indigenous leaders in New Mexico who brought traditional healing practices to systems-impacted youth. At The New York Women’s Foundation, I led the Initiative Against Sex Trafficking of Minors and built strategy to advance the power and voices of survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation, especially those that encountered the criminal justice system. And at Frontline Solutions, I supported The Baltimore Children & Youth Fund, a public fund centered in racial equity, intergenerational leadership, community ownership, and collective decision-making. I have an M.A. in international peace and conflict resolution from American University and B.A. in sociology and gender studies from Rutgers University.

Through these experiences, I have learned that when we invest in our neighborhoods, and when systems-impacted individuals and families have the option to heal and grow, our communities are safer and healthier. It is an honor and privilege to build relationships with movement leaders and advocates and those most affected by our unjust systems. I look forward to standing alongside The Just Trust’s partners as we work for justice reform.

My heart, spirit, and mindset are that of an organizer. It shows up in every facet of my life—from gathering my community for some family style lomi salmon, palusami, and my Grandpa’s sapasui (that’s Samoan chop suey if you don’t know!), to organizing bike camping adventures with fellow cyclists, to partnering with donors and philanthropic institutions to bring resources to scale for power builders—inspiring and aligning others to come together, break bread, and make change is one of my greatest joys.

I have a ferocious belief in the power of organizing and movement building—I saw early on in my career that the most brilliant problem solvers were the organizers, coalition leaders, storytellers, and practitioners closest to the challenges, but unfortunately, they almost always lacked the resources and capacity to scale their programs, run their organizations, and have the impact that I and they knew was possible. That’s why I have committed my career to strengthening movements by organizing resources amongst a broad constellation of committed philanthropic funding partners, supporting the development of movement leaders, and cultivating high-impact teams.

As the former vice president of Way to Win, I worked on the larger landscape of partnerships to strengthen and create the infrastructure needed to advance transformative policy and build lasting power in the pro-democracy sector. This work resulted in over $150 million to state and national organizations in the 2020 election cycle. Prior to Way to Win, I was the co-executive director of the California Donor Table, where I worked with a broad base of funders, political donors, labor leaders, practitioners, and state and local community leaders to invest in and support the civic engagement and electoral priorities of California’s new majority communities. Before entering the philanthropic sector, I contributed to the growth and sustainability of a number of organizations focused on racial, social, and economic equity, from Rockwood Leadership Institute to PolicyLink.

I have an ardent commitment to building more just systems in America, and I have seen firsthand the injustices of the criminal legal system and the disproportionate impacts on my community. That’s what brings me to The Just Trust, and why, in my personal capacity, I serve on the boards of Color of Change PAC and Tides Advocacy Fund, and serve as a brain trust member of the Democracy Frontlines Fund, housed at The Libra Foundation. I am thrilled to lead the strategy and operations and contribute to the growth and trajectory of The Just Trust—a place where I can continue to bring the best of my organizer heart, spirit, and mindset.

I grew up in a family committed to service and giving back to our community, but it wasn’t until I landed at The Bronx Defenders as a new attorney that I saw and experienced first-hand the structural inequity and dehumanization of the Criminal Justice System. Until then, my work had focused primarily on housing, public benefits, and other social safety net challenges for New York City’s poor and low-income communities. I understood intellectually how systems of oppression are created and perpetuated, but my time in the Bronx completely transformed me and my understanding of justice in this country.

As an active member of the criminal and housing justice movements in New York City from 2008-2018, I worked with diverse stakeholders across aisles and party lines including judges, organizers, attorneys, volunteers, and policy-makers. First as a supervising attorney at The Bronx Defenders, and later as Deputy Director at Brooklyn Legal Services’ Tenant Rights Coalition, I worked in partnership with local organizations and elected officials, and supported system-impacted communities to cultivate local leadership, engage in collaborative campaigns to reimagine public safety, and identify opportunities for coalition building with unlikely partners.

For the last four years, I worked with the Solidago Foundation as a Senior Program Officer, leading the foundation’s work to strengthen and support the local, state, and national infrastructure needed to build thriving, equitable, and just communities. Mobilizing resources of Solidago’s affiliated foundations, I created complementary and aligned strategies towards building independent political power rooted in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, AAPI, and other communities of color and low-income communities.

I graduated from the City University of New York School of Law and McGill University. Before law school, and in a former life, I worked for a local non-profit in the Yucatan, Mexico, leading bird-watching expeditions, and other community-based education programs. I currently live in Western Massachusetts with my husband and two daughters

I came to this work entirely by accident—I was lucky enough to be exposed to the desperate need for justice reform in the US in my first job after graduating, and now it’s the only thing I can see myself working on. I graduated from Ashland University in Ohio, and immediately moved to Washington D.C. looking to make a difference.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to experience, and influence in particular, the growing understanding among the American business community that more has to be done to rectify our broken systems of justice. I served as Public Policy Director at Koch Industries, as well as working on state-based campaigns at the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice.

I’m also humbled to serve on the Board of the 6th Amendment Center, where I’ve garnered a deep understanding of all the ways our justice systems fail to uphold constitutional due process rights. I live and work in Boston, my adopted home, with my family.