The Long Game of Justice

I’ve worked in criminal justice reform for more than two decades, and for most of that time, I believed I understood exactly why I was in this work. 

To be totally honest I was a bit of a wild child growing up. Some of my closest friends from that period ended up in jail or rehab — and I ended up in college. Our paths diverged dramatically, and the older I got, the more I needed to understand why — why two people could make similar mistakes yet receive completely different life outcomes. The difference wasn’t character or willpower. It was circumstance. It was who had a safety net and who didn’t. And yes—race.

That was the starting line of my career: the unanswered question of how a legal system intended to deliver safety could produce such wildly different futures. Over the years — working inside jails, prisons and reentry programs, advocating for and shaping policies, and now in philanthropy — that question expanded into something bigger:

How do we build a justice system that doesn’t merely punish, but delivers more safety by actually holding people accountable and creating real pathways to opportunity?

I realize now that I don’t just do this work because of my past or because of the injustices I see every day. Don’t get me wrong, they are a huge part of the story, but what I realize now is that I’ve always wanted to be part of building something much better than the thing we have now that has created so much chaos and destabilized generations. 

The Moment We’re In

I’m now in the business of working toward that better system each and every day, and couldn’t be prouder of The Just Trust and our partners. But I would be lying if I said it was easy work – especially now. If you follow headlines, the moment we’re in can feel a bit…confusing. Let’s talk it through: 

• Crime is down, but fear is not: Violent crime in cities across the country has continued to fall — with homicides and most other serious offenses lower in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year, and many offenses down to pre-pandemic levels. While both safer communities and a genuine sense of safety are essential, many Americans still believe crime is rising and feel less safe in their communities, with perceptions lagging behind the improvements documented in official statistics.
• Evidence-based reforms are working, but the infrastructure behind them is fragile: Programs rooted in evidence — violence intervention, trauma recovery, community-based response models — are showing strong results, yet the funding behind them is increasingly unstable. In 2025, hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to evidence-based programs were either rescinded or slashed—affecting more than 550 organizations working on community violence intervention, legal services, victim support (which eventually saw some support dollars reinstated), and more . 
• Funding rose fast, but pulled back just as quickly: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how philanthropy has been just as volatile. Funding for criminal justice reform surged around 2020, then dropped by roughly half in the years that followed, even as the need for stable, long-term investment grew. More broadly, social justice and DEI funding have also faced backlash and retrenchment in this polarized moment.

This is what the long game actually looks like: progress and backlash living side by side. As a lifelong advocate, I had to learn to internalize these cycles and redefine what it meant to win. 

A Change in Perspective…

When I started out, it was easy to pin my hope on the next bill, the next policy, the next report. That’s what I thought winning was all about. And don’t get me wrong—those things matter deeply. Some of the work I’m proudest of has been in the legislative trenches and in the slow, persistent fight to change prison conditions or rewrite sentencing laws.

But over time, especially in this role as a funder, I’ve come to see safety and justice as generational projects.

We are not just trying to pass a law or win a court case. We are trying to replace the default of arrest and incarceration with a better way to respond to harm—one that designs institutions around real needs and measures safety by outcomes, not punishment.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Reshaping youth justice in places like Arkansas and Hawaii, where our partners on the ground are making sure judges account for trauma and development instead of treating children as small adults. 

Expanding Second Look resentencing opportunities for people who have demonstrated rehabilitation while serving long sentences—acknowledging that people change, age, and grow, and that safety includes making room and creating opportunities for redemption. 

Scaling Safety and other community-based public safety models that are quietly transforming neighborhoods—violence interrupters, trauma recovery centers, and reentry programs that prevent harm long before a 911 call. 

And learning from organizations like Equal Justice USA, which recently closed its doors after more than 30 years of leadership on the death penalty, survivor-centered work, and bridge-building between communities and law enforcement. Their closure is a real loss. But their legacy—what they built and seeded—will shape this field for decades. 

Those stories remind me that each policy, each program, each narrative shift is a stepping stone toward a safer America that works better for everyone—not the destination itself.

Looking Forward: The Better Way

As we continue on in the new year, I want to offer something small but meaningful: a reminder that the better way we’ve been working toward isn’t theoretical or distant—it’s already emerging. 

If you need proof, or simply a spark of encouragement, I hope you’ll spend some time with the latest season of our podcast, When It Clicked. This season highlights innovators, survivors, practitioners, artists, and policymakers who aren’t stuck where we are—they’re actively shaping where we’re going. 

These are the people reminding me of my “why” – of our “why” at The Just Trust. Because it’s not enough to say what’s broken. We have to build the foundation for something better that will serve every person on every street in this country. That’s worth getting up for each day, and every day to come. 

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Listen to When it Clicked Season 2 

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