Jamila Hodge, Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Loy Azalia, Research and Evaluation Director
Kisha Arthur-Fontenelle, Director of Operations
Mona Cadena, Advocacy and Campaigns Director
Baindu Conte-Harvey, Chief Finance, Operations & Restructuring Officer
Sarah Craft, Death Penalty Director
Patrick Egan, Chief of Strategic Communications
Cymone Fuller, Senior Restorative Justice Director
Christine Henderson, Healing Justice Program Director
Lionel Latouche, Trauma to Trust Director
Mikaela Levons, Chief of Development
Louise Marchena, Co-Chief of Program Strategy & Operations
Tanya Mascary Thompson, Chief of People and Culture
Tonjie Reese, Learning and Practice Director
Will Simpson, Community Safety and Justice Director
Jasmyn Elise Story, Restorative Justice Director
Andrea Yaffe, Co-Chief of Program Strategy & Operations
Josie Alexander, Senior Louisiana Strategist
Anusha Alles, Senior Manager of Donor Engagement
Jaylah K. Cosby, Research and Impact Manager
Nicholas Cote, Conservatives Concerned - Western Region Strategist
Colleen Cunningham, Senior Campaigns Strategist
Zuri Davis, Communications Coordinator
Kristina Dezendorf, Trauma to Trust Manager
Amanda Dozier, Administrative Coordinator
Grace Gámez, PhD, Restorative Justice Strategist
Paola Guzman, Grassroots Capacity Building Manager, Sustainable Funding
Meaghan Hamilton, Institutional Giving Manager
Sam Heath, Evangelical Network Manager
Lindsey Hogan, People and Operations Manager
Aja Isler, People and Culture Manager
Jenna Kress, Restorative Justice Strategist
Libbie Love, Program Administrative Manager
Demetrius Minor, Conservatives Concerned Manager
Zayid Muhammad, New Jersey Strategist
Ben Podnar, Senior Digital Strategist
Karen Schousboe, Senior Restorative Justice Training Manager
Sierra Scott, Content Manager
Melquea Smith, Development Coordinator
Tracee Thomas, Senior Trauma to Trust Manager
Jaraad Thompson, Senior Accounting Manager
Venise Toussaint, Senior Media Manager
Erica Washington, Senior Restorative Justice Strategist
Founder
Shari Silberstein
Shari joined Equal Justice USA in 2000 when it was primarily a death penalty repeal project of another organization called the Quixote Center. Within a few years, Shari had built the groundbreaking strategies that ended the death penalty in New York, in 2007, the first in a string of 11 states nationwide to end the death penalty. EJUSA became an independent organization, with Shari as executive director, and played a leading role in the majority of those campaigns. That work involved countless families of both murder victims and people who had committed harm. Shari developed a deep understanding of trauma and the role it plays in perpetuating violence — and the ways that healing could prevent violence. Shari became a leading national voice in efforts to build survivor-led movements for justice anchored in race equity and to find common ground between victims advocates and criminal justice reform advocates. She envisioned a new justice system — that will make the current, harmful system obsolete — that delivers safety, healing for everyone, and accountability that repairs. Inside that vision, Shari developed a framework for the new system that advances alternative responses to violence while concurrently reducing the harm of the current system. All of EJUSA’s work, including Trauma to Trust, our continued battle against the death penalty, the Trauma & Healing Network, advocacy for violence prevention at all governmental levels, our bridge-building work with conservative and evangelical audiences, and more, drives that vision forward as the foundation of our work. Shari’s work built an organization while at the same time also shaping a movement. After leaving EJUSA in 2021, Shari continues to work for equity, healing, and liberation.