This week, our executive director, Shari Silberstein, shared with you that she would leave EJUSA at the end of the summer after more than 20 years of extraordinary work.
While we are deeply saddened to say goodbye to an amazing leader, I am pleased to announce our search for our next executive director. If you or anyone you know would make an exceptional candidate to lead EJUSA’s exciting next chapter, please encourage them to visit ejusa.org to learn more about this opportunity.
As EJUSA’s board chair, I have worked with Shari, the board, and the senior staff to make this transition smooth and successful. Thanks to your support, EJUSA is in a strong position to deepen our impact at a time when our call to reimagine justice is more urgent than ever. The board has hired Koya Leadership Partners and is committed to an exhaustive and inclusive search. We are determined to find a new leader who reflects both who we are at EJUSA and who we aspire to be.
I also want to take this opportunity on behalf of the Board of Directors to acknowledge and thank Shari for her visionary leadership.
Shari came to work at EJUSA more than 20 years ago, when it was still housed at the Quixote Center. Within a few years, she was driving the program to end the death penalty, learning and honing the strategies that are part of EJUSA’s calling card today.
In 2008, Shari launched EJUSA as a separate, independent entity in order to maximize its impact. This strategic decision came as momentum to repeal the death penalty was mounting. Shari, the EJUSA team, and our partners helped create historic victories in New York and New Jersey in 2007, which signaled to the nation that change was coming.
Even as the achievements accrued, Shari saw that transformation demanded more. The work to repeal capital punishment introduced her to countless families of both murder victims and people who had committed harm. She 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 and to find common ground between victims advocates and criminal justice reform advocates. She saw that we could make the current, harmful system obsolete by advancing new approaches to violence and accountability. Those approaches are the cornerstones of EJUSA’s vision today.
Shari has not only built an organization, she has also helped shape a movement.
Her decision to step aside for a new executive director only underscores how much she cares about both. She recognizes that now is the time for EJUSA to be headed by a leader from communities most affected by our justice system. We recognize that this is an extraordinary opportunity to maximize EJUSA’s potential and take our mission and vision to a new level. I look forward to announcing and introducing you to our new executive director later this year.
Until then, from all of us on EJUSA’s Board of Directors, thank you for all you do to support EJUSA and advance justice.
Warm regards,
Jesselyn McCurdy
