President & CEO

To explain President Obama's executive actions on prison reform, we FEATURE Liz Ryan. Liz is a campaign strategist and youth justice expert, who directs the Youth First! Initiative, a national advocacy campaign to end the incarceration of youth in youth prisons and direct resources towards effective community-based programs for youth. Liz is the founder and former CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), which spearheads national efforts to end the practice of trying, sentencing and incarcerating youth in the adult criminal justice system. Since CFYJ was launched in 2004, nearly half the states have reduced the prosecution of youth in adult court. Liz has worked on many campaigns, including spearheading the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign (Act4JJ) to overhaul the main federal law on youth justice, the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), and the No More Oak Hills campaign to successfully close the notorious Oak Hill Youth Detention Center for DC’s youth. Media includes: The Diane Rehm Show on NPR, Al Jazeera Television, USA Today, Rolling Stone Magazine, Huff Post

Trial Lawyer, former prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General for MD Member, Supreme Court Bar

To discuss the indictment of the activists behind the viral Planned Parenthood videos, we FEATURE Debbie Hines. Debbie is a Washington, DC based practicing trial attorney, former Maryland prosecutor and member of the Supreme Court bar who is an expert in criminal law, high profile criminal cases, gun laws, death penalty cases, voting laws, and abortion laws. She often addresses legal issues at the intersection of race and crime. As a former felony prosecutor, she tried homicides, attempted murders, rapes, burglaries, robberies, narcotics and economic crimes before juries with a high conviction rate. Presently, she maintains a boutique law practice focused on civil and criminal litigation. Media includes: MSNBC, Al Jazeera America, BET, C-Span, NPR, CCTV- America, TV One, Fox 5 (WTTG)

Associate Professor of Global Health

As the Zika virus continues to spread across the Americas, we FEATURE Dr.Dabney Evans. Dr.Evans is an Assistant Professor of Global Health in the Hubert Department of Health, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She is a mixed-methods researcher of issues affecting vulnerable populations at the intersection of public health and human rights. She is Director of the Center for Humanitarian Emergencies in the Rollins School of Public Health and the Emory University Institute of Human Rights. Media includes: The Hill, WABE (NPR affiliate), PBS, The New York Times, Infectious Disease News, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Freelance Journalist, Activist

For interviews surrounding the $950,000 FSU rape settlement, we FEATURE Wagatwe Wanjuku. Wagatwe is a writer and activist who first got her start blogging and organizing for social change as a co-organizer of the movement at Tufts University for an improved sexual assault policy. As a survivor-turned-activist, she uses her experience to help the most disempowered to use the power of new media to raise the voices of the most marginalized. Knowing the importance of Title IX and empowering students, she served as a contributor and media consultant with the Know Your IX campaign to educate students about their Title IX rights and is a co-organizer of the student-lead group ED ACT NOW, which wrote a petition to the Department of Education that has collected over 170,000 signatures in support of better Title IX enforcement. Media includes: The Daily Show, Katie, ESSENCE, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ms. Magazine