Get to know our Advisory Board for the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, an effort to infuse prisons with research, evidence, transparency, and innovation to promote the well-being of people who live and work there. This distinguished group includes advocates on behalf of incarcerated people, researchers, corrections officers/leadership, state leaders, and union representatives.
L. Dara Baldwin, born in Torrejon, Spain to parents involved in serving their country, the desire to serve has continued through her education and current career journey. She is an activist, scholar and author. Her debut non-fiction book, To Be A Problem: A Black Woman’s Survival in the Racist Disability Rights Movement, will be released in July 2024. She is an Adjunct Professor at McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and a strategist, connector, changemaker and policy wonk.
Currently Ms. Baldwin is President of DMadrina, LLC. a consultant firm working with organizations around the world to incorporate Intersectional policy agendas with an emphasis on disability justice. She has held senior level positions in federal policy at multiple organizations. She was the Director of National Policy for the Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR) and Senior Policy Analyst at National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). She works within the Disability Justice movement and with an intentional strategy to end racism and systems of oppression.
As a consultant Ms. Baldwin does legislative work, from research and writing comments, testimonies, letters and reports to assisting with advocacy outreach and working with Congressional staff, the Administration, coalition partners and others on multiple issue areas for improving the lives of all but a serious concentration on BIPOC with disabilities. Centering this community in the work of social justice will dismantle the barriers of subjugation and oppression of all. She has led multiple national and international advocacy campaigns. In December 2022 she spoke on the lack of inclusion of disability issues and accessibility, at the United Nations first meeting of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent.
L. Dara Baldwin has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Rutgers University, Newark, NJ and was a Pi Alpha Alpha honors Graduate with a Masters of Public Administration from Rutgers University the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Newark, NJ.
Michelle Daniel Jones is a sixth-year doctoral student in the American Studies program at New York University (ABD). Her dissertation focuses on creative liberation strategies of incarcerated women and the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project. As an organizer, collaborator, and subject matter expert she creates opportunities to speak truth to power and serves in the development and operation of taskforces and initiatives to reduce harm and end mass incarceration. She has joined Second Chance Educational Alliance as a senior research consultant, Women Transcending Oral History Project at the Columbia University, Center for Justice, the Survivor’s Justice Project and serves on the boards of Worth Rises and the Correctional Association of New York and advisory boards of the Jamii Sisterhood, the Education Trust, A Touch of Light, the Urban Institute and ITHAKA's Higher Education in Prison Research project.
She is a founding member and board president of Constructing Our Future, a reentry and housing organization for women created by incarcerated women in Indiana and a Beyond the Bars fellow, a research fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University, and a Ford Foundation Bearing Witness Fellow with Art for Justice, a SOZE Foundation Right of Return Fellow, a Code for America Fellow, a Mural Arts Rendering Justice Fellow and an Artist for the People Practitioner Fellow at the Human Rights Lab/Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago.
Daniel Jones is co-editor with Elizabeth Nelson of a new history of Indiana’s carceral institutions for women with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated colleagues titled, Who Would Believe a Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848 – 1920. As an artist, further, Daniel Jones is interested in finding ways to funnel her research pursuits into theater, dance, and photography. She co-authored an original play with Anastazia Schmid, The Duchess of Stringtown that was produced in Indianapolis and New York City. Daniel Jones’s artist installation about the weaponization of stigma, “Point of Triangulation: Intersections of Identity,” ran at the New York University, Gallatin Galleries, the Beyond the Bars Conference at Columbia University, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and a Mural Arts of Philadelphia permanent mural. Daniel Jones is curator and featured artist in “Makes Me Wanna Holla: Art, Death and Imprisonment” exhibition about COVID-19 in prisons opens July 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.
Ronald F. Day is a Vice President of Programs and Research at The Fortune Society. He provides oversight for Fortune’s Education and Employment Services program, where individuals receive comprehensive education, vocational, and career development training, and its Transitional Services program, a partnership with the New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC) and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ). The initiative provides pre and post release services to people incarcerated in NYC jails. Ronald also supervises Fortune Center for Research, Inquiry and Social Justice (CRIS-J). CRIS-J conducts research to advance policy and practices that improve public safety and the welfare of our communities, foster successful reentry following incarceration, expand alternatives to incarceration, and dismantle mass incarceration. Ronald has been the recipient of several awards, including the Citizen’s Against Recidivism Bridge Builder Award, and the Justice Research Fellowship. Ronald has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the CUNY Graduate Center / John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a Master’s in Public Administration from Baruch College (CUNY). Ronald is also formerly incarcerated.
Michele Deitch directs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas, a policy resource center working to transform the way we treat people in prisons and jails and to improve correctional oversight. She also holds a joint appointment as a distinguished senior lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and UT School of Law. She is also an attorney with over 37 years of experience working on criminal justice and juvenile justice policy issues with state and local government officials, corrections administrators, judges, and advocates. Michele is considered one of the country’s leading experts on independent oversight of correctional institutions, prison and jail conditions, and deaths in custody, and she has authored numerous articles and reports on those issues.
Before entering academia, Michele served as a federal court-appointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system as part of the landmark Ruiz v. Estelle case; as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee; as policy director for Texas’s sentencing commission; as a consultant to justice system agencies around the country; and as the original drafter of the American Bar Association’s Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners. She has been a Soros Senior Justice Fellow and is the recipient of the 2019 Flame Award for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) for her significant contributions to corrections oversight. She holds degrees from Amherst College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.
Mateo de la Torre (he/él) is a transgender Latino from Tijuana, Mexico, and currently serves as the Senior Manager of Global Programs at LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. His work has focused on issues impacting transgender people of color and those with low-to-no income including sex worker’s rights, policing, and conditions of confinement in prisons and detention centers. Mateo has most recently served as Director of Policy and Advocacy at Black and Pink where he managed the National LGBTQ/HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, and as Racial and Economic Justice Policy Advocate at the National Center for Transgender Equality. Throughout his advocacy, he has organized international conferences, national lobby days, published reports on TGNC interactions with law enforcement, co-drafted the first federal bill focused on the health and safety of sex workers, and headed up Latinx outreach and engagement for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration.
Amy Fettig serves as the Deputy Director for Fair and Just Prosecution which promotes a movement of reform-minded elected prosecutors dedicated to creating a justice system grounded in fairness, equity, compassion and fiscal responsibility while building safer and healthier communites. She previously served as the Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, a national research and advocacy organization working to end mass incarceration and promote racial, gender and economic justice. Prior to her senior executive roles at key national justice reform organizations, Ms. Fettig served as the Deputy Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project (NPP). At NPP, she litigated federal class action prison conditions cases under the Eighth Amendment. Her practice focused on claims regarding medical and mental health care in prison, solitary confinement, prison rape, and comprehensive reform in youth facilities. She also founded and directed the ACLU’s Stop Solitary campaign seeking to end the practice of long-term isolation in our nation’s prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers through public policy reform, legislation, litigation and public education. A national expert on prisoner rights law, she provides technical legal assistance and advice to advocacy groups and lawyers around the country and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to law school, Ms. Fettig worked with women prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families in New York City. She holds a B.A., with distinction, Carleton College; a Master’s from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs; and a J.D. from Georgetown University. Ms. Fettig is a member of the New York State Bar (2002) and the Bar for the District of Columbia (2006).
Wayne Ford is the founder and CEO of Wayne Ford & Associates consulting firm, where he helps non-profits in the areas of civic engagement, fundraising, board management, diversity projects and to recruit and retain minority employees. Wayne Ford & Associates also works with non-profit community organizations to develop projects for high-risk youth. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1996 until 2010. While there, Ford served on the Joint Prison Restructuring Committee and the State Government Accountability Committee, and he was Co-Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Overrepresentation of Blacks in Prison. He also authored Iowa’s landmark Minority Impact Legislation, the first such legislation in the nation, which states no new judicial law can be approved until the impact on minorities can be evaluated. In addition, he recently founded the Wayne Ford Minority Impact Institute with a national advisory board based on that legislation. Wayne was the executive director and founder of Urban Dreams, a non-profit committed to serving the needs of Des Moines Inner City Residents from 1985-2017.
Katie Kramer is Co-Founder and CEO of The Bridging Group, a small consulting firm specializing in the effects of incarceration on public health, families, and community reentry. She is an experienced researcher and evaluator with extensive practice in conducting community-based research and evaluation in the fields of correctional health and social service research. She is a skilled technical assistance consultant with expertise in helping community-based organizations, local and state social service and health departments, local and state criminal justice agencies and federal governmental partners to increase their capacity in strategic planning, program and policy development, and evaluation and monitoring. Dr. Kramer is also an experienced senior agency manager with comprehensive knowledge in program oversight, agency policy development, grant writing and staff supervision. She has experience as a clinical social worker providing direct service for clients and clinical supervision for direct-line staff. In addition, Dr. Kramer is the Statewide Director for the California Reentry Council Network and currently serves on the Data and Research Committee for the International Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents, on the Steering Committee for the Alameda County Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership, and on the Executive Editorial Board as a Criminal Justice Expert for the Journal of Clinical Research in HIV/AIDS and Prevention. Finally, Dr. Kramer is a professional trainer and curriculum developer with over 20 years’ experience in the creation and facilitation of skills-based trainings and intensive program implementation courses.
Johnny Perez is the Director of NRCAT's U.S. Prisons Program and is a highly accomplished criminal justice reform advocate, public speaker, and thought-leader in the field of ending torture and inhumane treatment in the U.S. prison system. As the Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program, he champions an end of solitary confinement and equips faith communities and affected individuals to engage in education and legislative changes nationwide. Johnny represents NRCAT in several collaborative efforts with other organizations, including Unlock the Box, a national campaign to end solitary confinement and the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce(FAST).
Johnny proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the National Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration, JusticeAid, New York City's Urban Justice Center, and The Appeal. He is as an ambassador for the End The Exception Campaign and serves as an advisory board member for the DC-based Urban Institute's Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. As a committee member to the ARCH Network Committee at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), he helps advance initiatives to improve the well-being of both incarcerated people and staff.
Johnny is dedicated to mitigating the profound effects of incarceration on individuals and society. His insights, including drawing from lessons learned during 13 years of incarceration, make Johnny a sought-after speaker for law schools and universities across the country, and media interviews and op-eds. In addition to his professional achievements, Johnny wears the hats of a devoted father, mentor to formerly incarcerated students at St. Francis College of Brooklyn (his alma mater), and founder of Day 1 Pictures, showcasing his talent in photography. >>Learn more about Johnny’s life and work.
Andy Potter is a 30-year veteran of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and the Executive Director of the Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), a public-sector union located throughout the State of Michigan. Andy joined the corrections department in 1989 and worked at the Oaks Correctional Facility and the Handlon Michigan Training Unit, where he held several elected chapter positions. He was elected to the MCO State Executive Board in 2004 and became State Vice President in 2005. Over his career, he has held gubernatorial appointments on several task forces including an appointment to the Michigan Corrections Officers Training Council from 2004 – 2013. Since 2015, he has served as MCO’s Executive Director and led the restructuring of MCO’s staff and operations. During his time as Executive Director, he has spearheaded several new initiatives to revolutionize member engagement within the union. In June of 2019, he was appointed as an SEIU International Vice President. He also holds the title of President of the SEIU Michigan State Council. In addition, he is the founder of One Voice, a national campaign that brings corrections officers together with criminal justice reform leaders and other stakeholders to experiment with ways of building bridges and unearthing common ground issues in order to better inform the policies, approach, and narrative of criminal justice reform.
Rick Raemisch served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections. He successfully implemented prison reforms in Colorado and, except 15 days’ maximum punitive segregation, has ended the use of restrictive housing. Rick is a recognized leader on prison reform and is highly sought after to participate as a subject matter expert at both the national and international level. He has testified on corrections matters before a U.S. Senate Sub-Committee involving the overuse of segregation, and has participated in numerous forums on corrections at prestigious universities including Yale Law School, New York University School of Law, and John Jay College. Rick has also assisted and been a member of the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. meetings in Cape Town and Vienna to re-write prisoner standards, now known as the Mandela Rules. He has authored a number of corrections articles including in the New York Times and has also been profiled by them. Rick was honored as one of the Public Officials of the Year for 2018 by Governing and he also received the 2018 International Corrections and Prisons Association Head of Service Award, both in recognition of the numerous prison reforms implemented in Colorado. He received the nationally distinguished Tom Clements Award by the Association of State Correctional Administrators in 2017, awarded annually to a member who displays innovation and achievement as a leader in the corrections profession. Rick was also awarded the 2016 Sam Cochran Award by the National Alliance on Mental Illness for his work in implementing widespread reforms in the use of solitary confinement in Colorado prisons.
Nancy Rodriguez is a Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include inequality (race/ethnicity, class, crime and justice) and the collateral consequences of mass incarceration. Throughout her career, Dr. Rodriguez has engaged in use-inspired research and has been part of many successful collaborations with criminal justice agencies. She is the author of several books, whose work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals. In October 2014, Dr. Rodriguez was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the scientific research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. As Director of NIJ, she led the development of the agency’s first strategic research plans in the areas of 1) corrections, safety, health, and wellness and 2) policing. During her tenure at NIJ, she worked with federal partners to address gaps in crime and justice research. Currently, Dr. Rodriguez is Principal Investigator of a study on the racial and ethnic disparities experienced by Latinos in local justice systems (support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation). She is also Principal Investigator of two multi-state projects addressing the causes and consequences of prison violence and the nature and impact of family engagement among incarcerated persons (support from Arnold Ventures).
Topeka K. Sam is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries –and co-founder of HOPE HOUSE NYC. She serves on the board of directors for Grassroots Leadership, Coalition for Public Safety and The Marshall Project. Since her release from Federal Prison on May 5, 2015, Topeka has become a Beyond the Bars 2015 Fellow and a 2016 Justice-In-Education Scholar, both from Columbia University. She is also a 2017 Soros Justice Advocacy Fellow, a 2018 Unlocked Futures Inaugural Cohort Member, 2018 Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute Fellow, Director of the #Dignity Campaign for #cut50, Senior Advisor of New Yorkers United for Justice, host of “The Topeka K. Sam Show” on SiriusXM UrbanView Channel 126, and has recently signed a development deal as Executive Producer for a scripted and unscripted series inspired by her fight to change the many problems that plague female incarceration with 44 Blue Productions. Topeka has been featured in Vogue, Essence, SalonTV, Vice, and the New York Times. She was also featured in Glamour Magazine and BlackEnterprise for being “The Black Woman behind the video that led to the Trump Clemency of Alice Johnson.” She was a featured speaker at the United States of Women Conference, Women in the World Conference, and White House Prison Reform Summit, and is a TedxMidAtlantic Superheroes Presenter. She has received many awards for her contributions transforming the lives of women and girls impacted by the criminal legal system.
Scott Semple previously served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Scott joined the Connecticut Department of Correction as a frontline Correction Officer in 1988 at the high security Cheshire Correctional Institution. During his tenure, he served the agency in numerous administrative capacities, to include pre-service training coordinator, external and legislative affairs, and warden of the state’s only correctional facility dedicated for men requiring comprehensive treatment services for significant mental illness. As commissioner, Scott successfully implemented several performances based and progressive correctional practices designed to support both staff and incarcerated people. Most notable, they include the Emerging Adult Units known as the TRUE Unit (located in Cheshire) and the WORTH Unit (located in Niantic). He has also repurposed an existing correctional facility and other specific housing units for specialized populations to provide a therapeutic environment designed to support community reintegration. Scott implemented numerous agency-wide staff wellness initiatives to support, respond, and improve policies evolving around the complex and unique needs associated with the health and welfare of correctional professionals and their families. On January 1, 2019, after more than 30-years of service to the agency, Scott retired from public service. He now provides professional consult through Semple Consulting, LLC on various criminal justice and correctional related endeavors.
Brie Williams is a Professor of Medicine in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Director of the Criminal Justice & Health Program at UCSF, and Director of Amend at UCSF: Changing Correctional Culture. Dr. Williams' work focuses on bringing the science of internal medicine, geriatrics and palliative care to address health-oriented challenges in criminal justice reform. She collaborates with colleagues from diverse disciplines (including criminal justice, public safety, and the law) to conduct impact-oriented research and education aimed at improving the health of all who live or work in U.S. correctional facilities. Her clinical research has called for improved responses to disability, cognitive impairment, and environmental mismatch among older or seriously ill prisoners; a more scientific development of compassionate release policies; and a broader inclusion of patients who are incarcerated in national health datasets and in clinical research. She has developed new methods for responding to the unique health needs of criminal justice-involved older adults —including an evidence-based approach to reforming compassionate release policies and the design of a new tool to assess physical functioning in older prisoners. Since 2014, Dr. Williams has also directed Amend at UCSF, an international immersion program (primarily in Norway) for criminal justice leaders, policy makers, correctional officers and staff which integrates European principles of normality, dignity and human rights into U.S. prisons and jails. She also served as a member of the Workshop on Incarceration and Health sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences and she is a Board Member for Unlock the Box, a national campaign to end solitary confinement.