Laura Moye on EJUSA

Laura Moye, Field Organizer Amnesty International Southern Regional Office

“Georgia’s moratorium campaign has entered into its second year and each step of the way has been a learning experience! From the beginning we have relied on EJUSA to provide us with the technical support that we were lacking.

“EJUSA staff visited with our activists at the outset of our campaign and offered successful strategies for developing a grassroots and legislative campaign. Learning from them about the experience in Maryland inspired confidence that we could achieve similar results in Georgia, not only because of their legislative successes, but because their experiences provided us with a model for tackling such a monumental task.

“Last year we commissioned a public opinion survey, collected thousands of individual endorsements, had a regular presence at the state capitol, organized several public education events, put together two press conferences, began developing our statewide grassroots network, and learned the nuances of the moratorium strategy and language. EJUSA helped us at each step of the way with useful information, models from other states, strategic thinking, critical feedback, and their contagious enthusiasm. We are excited about year two and know that EJUSA will be there to continue providing invaluable support and expertise.

By Shari Silberstein

Since 2000, Shari Silberstein has dedicated her career to transforming the justice system from one that harms to one that heals. Under her leadership, and using campaign strategies she helped develop, Equal Justice USA has helped end the death penalty in nine states, built first-of-its-kind conservative and evangelical coalitions for justice reform, secured millions in state funding for healing services to families of murder victims, launched an innovative model for training and dialogue between police and communities on trauma and race equity, and strengthened dozens of local organizations across the nation working for justice, violence reduction, and healing. Shari has been a national voice in helping to break down the silos between criminal justice reformers and crime survivor advocates. Her expertise has been a source in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and Harper’s Magazine, and she has written op-eds for an array of media outlets, including Fox News, the Marshall Project, and U.S. News and World Report. Shari has a bachelor's degree in film from New York University and a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas at Austin.