The session, titled The Importance of Now: Maintaining Momentum in Criminal Justice Transformation, ranges from the personal to the national, covering how both these experts began in criminal justice change, and how to address the particular needs of women involved in the criminal legal system.  The discussion also addresses how misinformation impacts reform strategies, the tendency to focus on wins and then move on—rather than maintaining those wins—and the need to reach wider audiences with our messages. Guest Bios Erica Bond Vice-President, Social Justice Initiatives, John Jay College ..read more

Guest Biography Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tasha Blackmon is a dynamic, collaborative leader, mentor and coach who brings more than 20 years of business operations experience to her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cherry Health, Michigan’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center. Cherry Health provides integrated health care services to over 55,000 patients in Barry, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Ottawa and Wayne counties in Michigan.  During her 16 years with Cherry Health, Blackmon has championed health justice through aggressively disrupting healthcare di ..read more

Sheena Meade talks about her beginnings in labor organizing, then helping to co-lead the successful fight to restore voting rights in Florida, and how that has led to a push, across the States, to automate the clearing of records, and other new collaborations, such as Next Chapter, to change employer approaches to hiring returned citizens. This episode is part of Rework Reentry, a partnership of The Aspen Institute and Slack supporting career options for returning citizens. Guest Biography Sheena Meade is the Executive Director of the Clean Slate Initiative (CSI). CSI is a national bipartisan ..read more

Chekemma J. Fulmore-Townsend, President and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network, joins us to discuss the evolution of youth justice work in Philadelphia, and her own personal journey from working directly with youth and families, to running Philadelphia’s major youth-serving nonprofit. Weaving together progress in the community, creating effective programs for youth, and the City of Philadelphia’s youth justice reforms, this episode focuses on the many different sectors and partners (including the community itself) that must work together – through good times and bad times – to create progre ..read more

For decades, prisoners have been denied access to college educations. Recent bipartisan federal legislation will remove one key barrier, but much remains to be done.  The Reverend Vivian D. Nixon, Executive Director of College & Community Fellowship  – an organization that helps the women and families most harmed by mass criminalization gain access to opportunity – joins our podcast to explore her own journeys through both prison and college. Reverend Nixon calls out the power of education to create change in individuals, who can then change our society and our beliefs about who ..read more

While federal criminal justice policy gets a lot of attention, arguably the most important reforms are occurring in local jurisdictions. And many of those efforts are led by elected local justice leaders – sheriffs, DAs and prosecutors – or are being advanced through local ballot measures. These thousands of crucial elections, however, aren’t getting much attention in the national press; even local press may pay only the most cursory attention, though the ramifications for local and national justice reform may be immense. Journalist and editor Daniel Nichanian has been focused on these races a ..read more

LaTonya A. Tate's journey started as a nurse, then, in a turn, as a parole officer, then to founding the Alabama Justice Initiative and running for and winning a seat on the Birmingham City Council. All along the way, her family and her community have been close to her heart, and their struggles have built her into a force for change across Alabama, including stopping, for now, a new prison. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Aspen Institute is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates or parties. Further, the views and opinions of our guests and speaker ..read more

Dwayne Betts’ story is one of tribulation and triumph. At 16, he was tried as an adult and spent eight years in prison. He discovered a love for literature while incarcerated and decided to become a writer. Since his release in 2005, Betts has published three books of poetry and one memoir and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in law. Most recently, Betts and acclaimed poet and essayist Elizabeth Alexander announced The Million Book Project—an initiative that will establish 1000 "Freedom Libraries" in prisons across the U.S. Listen in to hear a moving testament on the power of literature and readi ..read more

Guest Bio An attorney and accomplished author, Marc Levin serves as Chief Policy Counsel to the Council on Criminal Justice, a membership organization that provides a center of gravity in the field for objective analyses of research and policies. He began the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005 and in 2010 developed the concept for its Right on Crime initiative. In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”  Levin has authored numero ..read more

Danielle Sered envisioned, launched, and directs the nonprofit organization Common Justice. She leads the project’s efforts locally and nationally to develop and advance practical and groundbreaking solutions to violence that advance racial equity, meet the needs of those harmed, and do not rely on incarceration.  Before planning the launch of Common Justice, Sered served as the deputy director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Adolescent Reentry Initiative, a program for young men returning from incarceration on Rikers Island. Prior to joining Vera, she worked at the Center for Court In ..read more