Speakers
 

Prince Saleem (Marvin) Alexis is a Chicago-born artist, author, and advocate who transformed a 24-year prison sentence into a mission of resilience. As the founder of Mogul Makers Performing Arts Coalition and XCon 2 Icon, he uses his experience as a playwright, poet, and motivational speaker to empower others to redefine their narratives. A co-author of Throwing Rocks At the Pen, Marvin is a powerful voice for transformation and the healing power of the arts. He is a participant in Mud Theatre's Stage Ready program.

Ummer Ali is a social worker at the Innocence Project, working to support freed and exonerated people in their reentry. A passionate advocate for social justice, he uses his skills in restorative justice and social work to contribute to the mission of the Innocence Project. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Ummer worked as a restorative justice coordinator at Make The Road NY, where he oversaw the creation and implementation of alternatives to suspension for four high schools in Bushwick Brooklyn.

Chris Alrutz serves as data analyst consultant at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, working at the intersection of data science and criminal justice reform. Drawing on his background in information systems and computer science, he helps organizations clean, validate, and analyze large datasets to identify patterns and trends. Through collaboration with the Center's network of scholars and practitioners, he provides consultations and training that transform complex data into actionable insights. He examines how technology, including case management systems, large language models, and open-source software, can lead to significant improvements in the criminal justice system.

Eric Anderson is a Michigan exoneree and respected peer mentor committed to supporting individuals navigating life after wrongful conviction. After spending more than a decade incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, he now plays a central role in developing survivor-led reentry supports through the Organization of Exonerees. Eric’s work focuses on trauma recovery, healthy community reintegration, and helping returning citizens rebuild stability through connection, trust, and practical guidance. His lived experience and grounded leadership make him a vital voice in shaping humane, community-centered reentry strategies. 

Marvin Anderson became the 99th person in the United States to be exonerated due to post-conviction DNA testing in December 2001. He now lives and works in Hanover, VA, where he is the former district chief of the Hanover Courthouse Volunteer Fire Company. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Innocence Project since 2012. He is also the liaison to the Exoneree Advisory Group and currently serves on the Audit Committee. Marvin has been a Conference Lead Ambassador since 2022. 

Robin Anderson is married to Marvin Anderson, exoneree and member of the Innocence Project Board of Directors. Robin and Marvin have been married for seven years but first met when they were 14 years old. Robin has 35 years of experience in education, and in her current position with Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia, she oversees over 10,000 industry licenses and certifications. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., serving as a member and former chair of the Social Action Committee, where she participates in voter education and registration drives and advocacy days at the Virginia General Assembly.

Obie Anthony was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life without parole at age 19, and he spent 17 years in California prisons before his exoneration in 2011. Released without identification or basic resources, he had to relearn everyday skills, rebuild his life, and navigate reentry alone. This experience fueled his commitment to supporting other exonerees in securing housing, employment, healthcare, and stability after release. Obie helped pass California Assembly Bill 672 (“Obie’s Law”), requiring transitional services for exonerees. In 2016, he founded Exonerated Nation to build community, healing, and long-term support. He is a Rockwood Fellow and a frequent speaker on exoneration and incarceration.

Lynn Bagley is the senior staff investigator for the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP). Lynn has been a private investigator in Illinois since 2002. In 2011, she left the agency she was working with and started her own practice working with a variety of law firms and attorneys. By 2014, she was working mostly with civil rights and criminal defense attorneys. In 2020, she began working as a contract investigator with the Illinois Innocence Project, and in November of 2021 she became the first ever staff investigator with IIP and has been with them ever since.

Barry Beach, who was born on Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, was wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit, which occurred when he was a 17-year-old high school student. He served 32 years, including 13 transfers, four different states, and seven different jails and prisons. He attended Lee Bible College, Emmaus Bible College, and completed National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) courses from Florida State University. Barry lives in Billings, MT, where he runs his own business, Be A. Busy Handyman. He does motivational speaking, speaking about his story before many audiences including colleges, justice reform groups, and churches.

Marcus Beach began his law enforcement career in 1996 with the Rantoul Police Department in central Illinois, retiring in March 2023 as a Sergeant and day-shift patrol supervisor. Post-retirement, he joined the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield as associate director of the Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance training program. He delivers training on wrongful convictions and contributing factors to police recruits statewide; it became mandatory for Illinois academies in 2023 via the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. He holds a BA from Eastern Illinois University and an MPA from the University of Illinois Springfield.

Brian Beals is an accomplished activist, organizer, and award-winning playwright, who was exonerated in 2023 after spending 35 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. A Chicago native, Brian works in nonprofit and artistic spaces to create programming and support for communities impacted by injustice. He is the founder and executive director of Mud Theatre Project, a nonprofit organization that began as the Dixon Correctional Center Performing Arts Program, which Brian also founded in 2018. Currently, Brian is employed by Restore Justice and is completing the Future Leadership Apprenticeship program.

Darrion Benson was born in Chicago where he was raised in a home with siblings and mother and step-father. A wrong turn led him into the Illinois department of corrections where he served 17 years. During his incarceration, he published a book of poems, 325 Miles Away. He is also an aspiring playwright, and he co-founded a nationally respected prison theatre program (Dixon Theatre Workshop), led creative writing workshops, and worked as a certified civics peer educator that engages Chicago communities. Currently, Darrion is a professional court watcher with the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice.

Paola Bergallo is a professor at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella’s Law School and a researcher with CONICET, Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council. Her work combines research and advocacy on gender, health, and rights from comparative and empirical perspectives. She has led action-research projects across Latin America and created law and development programs. She has advised the National Program on Reproductive Health and the Supreme Court’s Office of Gender, and she has served as an expert witness before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and conducted research for organizations including the United Nations. She holds graduate degrees from Stanford and Columbia Universities and an LLB from Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Dan Bernstein joined the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) as a data specialist in 2024. Prior to working at MAIP, Dan was a software developer at the Legal Services Corporation, where he helped legal aid providers leverage public data for outreach and advocacy to combat eviction and debt collection. He has also worked with nonprofits around the country to build digital tools to streamline client intake and analyze data to identify racial disparities in the justice system. Dan received his BS in chemistry from the George Washington University. In his free time, Dan enjoys mountain biking, woodworking, and ultimate frisbee.

Allan Boomer has been in the financial industry for over 20 years and has spent the bulk of his career advising institutional clients and wealthy families. Before founding Momentum Advisors, Allan spent seven years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a vice president in the firm's Investment Management Division. While at Goldman, he managed a $450 million investment portfolio on a team that oversaw $7 billion in client assets. Allan began his career at Merrill Lynch in 1995. Allan co-hosts a weekly podcast on financial literacy, wealth-building, and entrepreneurship, called The Momentum Advisors.

Dr. Vanessa Bouché is a leading researcher whose work blends participatory action research with rigorous survey methodology to elevate survivor and community voice. She has designed and led international survey projects in Moldova and Albania to assess public perceptions of human trafficking and inform prevention strategies, and conducted a national victim-identification survey in Honduras. In the U.S., she served as senior research consultant on Polaris’s National Survivor Study and led Thorn’s national survey on technology-facilitated exploitation of minor sex trafficking survivors. Her research transforms lived experience into actionable insights that advance policy, program design, and systemic reform.

Denice Bronis (affectionately called “Mama De-Nice”) is the mother of Matthew Echevarria, an innocent man who is still fighting for his freedom after being arrested in 1999 at age 17 by the Chicago Police for a crime he did not commit. Denice is a community activist and a devoted advocate for her son and for many others, regularly attending court hearings and always thinking creatively about how to support her son and other impacted people in the community.  Denice has leased billboards, organized rallies, marches, and gatherings, and is an active member of the Mothers of the Kidnapped (MOK) – a collective within Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity (MAMAS) and Innocent Demand Justice Now (IDJN).

Tebah N. Browne, forensic science policy specialist at the Innocence Project, New York, focuses on the reliability, validity, and regulation of forensic science techniques. Previously, she was the first in-house scientist and DNA analyst at the Legal Aid Society's DNA Unit, where she reviewed criminal casework, developed litigation strategies, assisted with motion drafting, and conducted DNA interpretation and statistical analyses. She holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in forensic science, specializing in molecular biology and toxicology.

Kristine Bunch spent more than 17 years behind bars after she was arrested and charged with setting a fire that claimed the life of her three-year-old son, Anthony. She was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 60 years for murder and 50 years for arson. Sixteen years later, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, holding that Kristine was entitled to a new trial. The Indiana Supreme Court then unanimously affirmed the Court of Appeals decision. Kristine was released on her own recognizance; 17 years, one month, and 16 days after her wrongful arrest.

Jamillah Burgin brings over two decades of leadership in operations, project management, and executive administration to her role as director of operations at the Innocence Project. Most recently, she spent seven years at a college and career access nonprofit where she was instrumental in developing and streamlining organization-wide policies and processes. These systems promoted efficient daily operations and ensured that stakeholder efforts aligned with the organization’s core values and goals. Her previous work included collaborations with organizations focused on criminal legal reform and housing for vulnerable populations. Jamillah holds a BA in sociology from Manhattanville University and an MSc in project management from Lancaster University, U.K.

Tiffany Bush is the pro bono coordinating attorney at the Georgia Innocence Project (GIP). She oversees case screening, including GIP’s Case Screening Project, and is responsible for training and providing ongoing support to pro bono lawyers and legal professionals who assist with the screening and initial investigation of GIP cases, in order to identify cases with viable innocence claims. Tiffany also works with Conviction Integrity Units across the state of Georgia to identify cases with the highest chance of wrongful conviction and help advance them toward exoneration or other resolution. Prior to joining GIP in 2021, Tiffany worked as an associate at a small firm and then as a prosecutor in metro Atlanta.

Martina Cagossi is the co-founder and program manager of the Italy Innocence Project. In 2017, she worked together with other international experts on the creation of the European Innocence Network. In addition to her activities within the innocence movement, she works as a criminal lawyer in Milan.

Camila Calvo is the project coordinator at Innocence Project Argentina and has been a staff attorney at the organization since 2017. She serves on the Innocence Network Executive Board and co-chairs the International Committee. Camila is currently an International and Comparative Law Research Scholar at the University of Michigan Law School, where she also earned her master's degree in international and comparative law. With extensive training in criminal litigation and forensic sciences, Camila brings a comprehensive understanding of systemic challenges in the criminal legal system. Her work reflects a strong commitment to justice and addressing wrongful convictions.

Kyana Nickia Campblin joined the Innocence Project in 2020 and now serves as senior social worker. She provides direct support to individuals who have been freed or exonerated after wrongful incarceration, helping them rebuild their lives and navigate reentry. Her professional and personal experiences with the justice system fuel her dedication to advocacy and her commitment to advancing justice and equity. Beyond this work, Kyana is a passionate mental health advocate, particularly focused on addressing the barriers that limit open conversations about mental health within the Black community. She is committed to fostering dialogue, offering support, and promoting mental wellness for all. 

Niquole Caringi is a staff attorney at the Cooley Innocence Project (CIP), handling case work and student instruction and supervision. She is a Cooley Law School alumna, and prior to graduation and obtaining her bar license, was a CIP intern and file clerk. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in economics.

Adam Carmon was exonerated in 2023, after serving 28 years in prison for a wrongful conviction. Since his exoneration, he's advocated for policy changes at the Connecticut General Assembly, helping push forward legislation to improve Connecticut's compensation statute. Adam also hosts a podcast, Locked Up & Locked Out, giving voice to the wrongly convicted and shining a light on the flaws in America's justice system. The show explores the lived experiences of those who have been incarcerated, sharing stories of injustice, resilience, and the urgent need for reform.

Donna Carnevale is 57 years old and works with children with special needs. She is the wife of Daniel Carnevale, an exonerated individual from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was incarcerated for 13 years for a crime he did not commit.

Amy Carr is the senior staff investigator at the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF). She served as IPF’s first intake coordinator from 2008-2012. Prior to rejoining IPF’s staff in 2021, Amy spent over nine years working as an investigator/mitigation specialist for Capital Collateral Regional Counsel–South, a state agency providing post-conviction defense to Florida’s death row inmates. Amy has served as a member of AmeriCorps in Massachusetts and Florida. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs with a concentration in human rights from Florida State University and graduated from Penn State University with a BA in international politics.

Blanca Castro is a reentry coordinator at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, where she addresses and supports the needs of clients upon their release after being wrongfully imprisoned. Through individualized case management, she works with reentry clients as they reintegrate back into their communities. She also facilitates a biweekly support group for freed and exonerated individuals. Blanca received her bachelor's degree in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine, and master's degrees in social work and in social policy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lilly Chen is the founder and CEO of FSH Technologies, which leverages Artificial Intelligence to modernize local government services. A former software engineer at Facebook AI, Lilly brings technical expertise to the nonprofit sector. She served as a consultant for the Innocence Project, advising on AI integration, and sits on the board of the AI Infrastructure Alliance.

Jenna Cobb is a clinical assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School and co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which focuses on non-DNA innocence cases. She supervises law students in complex post-conviction litigation. Previously, she was an assistant clinical professor at Boston College Law School, where she directed the Boston College Defenders and taught Race, Racism, and the Law. She earlier served in the Special Litigation Division of the Public Defender Service, litigating systemic challenges in trial and appellate courts. She began her legal career as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP.

Isabelle Cohn is the forensic science policy associate with the Innocence Project. Her responsibility is to provide support to all federal and state initiatives to improve the scientific rigor, quality management, and error management responses of forensic science systems. Isabelle first joined the Innocence Project in the summer of 2021 as an intern in the Science and Research department, before transitioning to the Policy department the following year. Isabelle graduated from Syracuse University, where she earned her bachelor's in forensic science and psychology, and is currently pursuing her master's in criminal justice at John Jay College.

Elizabeth Cole is the director of the Nebraska Innocence Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Prior to joining the College, Liz was the clinical teaching fellow at the University of Michigan Law School's Michigan Innocence Clinic. She previously worked in criminal defense in Pennsylvania, both as a public defender and private defense counsel. Liz received her BA from Fordham University and her JD from Boston College Law School. In 2019, Liz received the Lewis S. Gurwitz Award for the Selfless Commitment to the Defense of Those who Lack the Resources to Defend Themselves.

Isabel (Izzy) Corngold is the director of Conviction Integrity for Arlington County, Virginia. Izzy previously worked as a staff attorney/case coordinator at the Georgia Innocence Project and as backlog fellowship attorney at the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. While at George Washington Law School, she interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Public Defenders Agency in Anchorage, Alaska. Izzy is a graduate of Reed College, where she wrote her thesis on ear-witness identification and the effect of pre-lineup instructions and was a research assistant on a death penalty case argued in the Oregon Supreme Court. Izzy co-chairs the Innocence Network's Secondary Trauma Working Group. 

Marvin Cotton Jr. is an exoneree, community leader, and co-founder of the Organization of Exonerees. After surviving 19 years of wrongful imprisonment, he has emerged as a powerful voice for trauma-informed healing, violence interruption, and public safety rooted in community care. Marvin is a respected trainer, speaker, and policy advocate whose work focuses on reducing harm, strengthening community trust, and ensuring that people returning home have access to stable housing, mental health supports, and peer-led guidance. His leadership has shaped statewide reentry partnerships and public health collaborations serving exonerees across Michigan.

Gayle Cummings, PsyD, MPH, is program director and assistant dean for the Public Health Program at Touro University California, where she also teaches in the Health Equity and Criminal Justice concentration. Her work focuses on research and evaluation supporting under-resourced communities, with interests including the public health impacts of incarceration, wrongful conviction, and exoneration. Gayle serves as principal investigator for the Exoneree Social Support Study and co-investigator for the California Exoneree Health and Well-Being Project, examining physical, mental, and emotional health among exonerees and their long-term support needs. Both studies are collaborations between Touro University California and Exonerated Nation.

Kaitlyn Dalton is a talent acquisition manager at United Airlines with nearly a decade of experience in recruiting and talent strategy. She specializes in connecting top talent with opportunities that support business growth and strong organizational culture. A Purdue University graduate based in Chicago, Kaitlyn is passionate about building meaningful professional connections and enjoys traveling and exploring new cultures.

Kristin Dame, MA, LMHC, is the director of private social work services for Massachusetts' state public defender agency, the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS). Her role is to assist adult criminal panel attorneys by connecting them to private social services experts. In 2019, she began helping clients of the Innocence Program released from prison. A year later, in 2019, she became an advisor to the Exoneree Network (EN). EN's mission is to support people with a claim of innocence through their legal, release, and reentry process, and their families and loved ones. Then in 2020, Kristin and Circle Keepers started holding Circles of Support.

Joel (Yoel) Davis, a Chicago native, is a spoken word artist and playwright. Yoel earned his associate's degree from Oakton College, where his original play In Search of a Better Place demonstrated to audiences that better worlds become possible when we dare to imagine them aloud. Through rehearsal and performance, he's learned that theatre transcends entertainment – it's transformation technology. Grateful to mentors and collaborators shaping his journey, and committed to evolving as both performer and storyteller, Yoel works as director of curriculum & training for the Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice.

Richard Davis is legal director of Innocence & Justice Louisiana (formerly Innocence Project New Orleans). He has worked at Innocence & Justice Louisiana since 2005. He obtained his Master of Law degree from Loyola University New Orleans while working at Innocence & Justice Louisiana. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Sheffield.

Antoine Day

Frank Drew was wrongfully convicted at the age of 18 and spent 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. After a lengthy evidentiary hearing, his conviction was vacated on May 27, 2022, and he was released from custody. All charges were dismissed in March 2024. He remains in an ongoing fight to obtain a certificate of innocence. Frank has spent much of his time since his release caring for his elderly mother, his special needs son, and other loved ones.

Tatiana Duchak is an attorney, licensed clinical professional counselor, and trauma specialist. Before attending Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, she worked as a therapist for over a decade in the forensic mental health field, treating individuals in jails, prison, state psychiatric hospitals, and child welfare facilities. As a mitigation specialist, Tatiana uses her clinical expertise to prepare mitigation reports on juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) cases. She founded the Arena Therapy and Justice Center, a Chicago-based nonprofit that is committed to ensuring mental health services are accessible to those reentering the community after incarceration.

Calvin Duncan is the newly elected Clerk of Criminal District Court of Orleans Parish. He was elected in November 2025 by 68% of the votes. Calvin was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 2011, he secured his release with the help of Innocence & Justice Louisiana, and in 2021, he was exonerated. In 2019, he received his BA from Tulane University and in 2023, his JD from Lewis & Clark Law School. Calvin is an instructor at Tulane School of Professional Advancement and directs the Light of Justice Program, which assists incarcerated people access records. Calvin’s memoir, The Jailhouse Lawyer, was published by Penguin Random House in July 2025.

Patti Fayed is an investigator with the Exoneration Project, working on exoneration cases around the country. Previously, she worked as an investigator for the Department of Public Advocacy, Kentucky, and trained investigators and conflict attorneys on investigation techniques and how to identify problems with a police investigation. She began her career as a police sergeant in New Haven, CT, and then served as a police instructor with the Department of Criminal Justice Training in Kentucky, where she wrote and conducted training courses. Before beginning work as an investigator, Patti worked for the Presidential Guard in Abu Dhabi as a military advisor and instructor.

Keith Findley was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Law School from 1985 until his retirement in 2024, except for six years when he served as a state public defender. In 1998, along with Professor John Pray, he co-founded the Wisconsin Innocence Project and served as co-director until the spring of 2017, when he assumed the role of senior advisor. From 2009 to November 2014, he was president of the Innocence Network. In 2018, he co-founded a nonprofit, the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, dedicated to improving the reliability and safety of criminal prosecutions through strengthening forensic sciences.

Timothy Fisher served as dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law from July 1, 2013 to July 30, 2020. Prior to becoming dean he was a partner at a major regional law firm, distinguishing himself with a long history of public service. He conceived and undertook the organizational and fundraising effort to create the Connecticut Innocence Fund, a first-in-the-nation program to assist exonerees to re-enter society when released from prison after proof of their innocence. He brought a deep belief in public service to his role as dean of UConn School of Law.

Kevin Francis was released on parole in August 2025 after spending 44 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. His wrongful conviction was extensively litigated in the Massachusetts courts before he was ultimately denied relief based on waiver (a procedural bar), although the court acknowledged the legitimacy of his constitutional claims. Kevin is freed but fighting, and is pursuing a new motion for a new trial, which will be filed in 2026.

Dawn Fraser is the founder and CEO of Fraser’s Edge, Inc., which empowers businesses, thought leaders, and advocates to elevate their leadership potential through the power of storytelling. Her clients have included entities such as Google, the Gates Foundation, and Spotify, along with a host of notable celebrities. She also serves as a senior producer at the Stanford Storytelling Project and a lead instructor with The Moth. Dawn holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and was featured among the nation’s top change makers as a speaker at TED@NYC.

Alan L. Friedman has been an independent forensic DNA consultant based in the Midwest for almost 30 years. He holds a PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology from the University of Chicago. His testimony has been accepted in over 100 cases, by courts in 10 state and federal courts. He is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Science, International Society for Forensic Genetics, and the Midwestern Association of Forensic Sciences.

Josh Friedman joined the Illinois Innocence Project in July 2025 as a law enforcement training specialist. He delivers Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance Training to police recruits statewide, leveraging over 10 years as an officer in South Carolina, Colorado, and Illinois. His career includes roles as patrol officer, field training officer, and certified peer support specialist. Previously, he spent four years at the University of Illinois Springfield's Alliance for Experiential Problem-Based Learning, leading bias-reduction and decision-making simulations for frontline professionals. He holds a master’s in criminology from the University of South Carolina and is a doctoral candidate in public administration at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Amanda Garcia was born and raised in Warwick, New York. Amanda’s favorite part of growing up was the sleep-away camp she attended every summer in Connecticut. Every Sunday night, the campers and counselors would gather around a bonfire for something they called “Sharing Circle.” Through this weekly practice, a profound respect for the value of sharing your authentic self with a community was born. Now New York City resident, one of her favorite things is overhearing strangers share their stories with one another on the subway. Amanda wears many hats at The Moth. When she's not busy working as the producer of the MothWorks program at The Moth, you can find her producing and instructing workshops and events through the Community Program.

Heidi Goodwin is a nationally recognized advocate and nonprofit leader whose work is shaped by lived experience and a deep commitment to justice reform. Wrongfully convicted for nearly a decade, she co-founded The Women’s Village, a peer-led program that transformed prison culture through community, education, and empowerment. Since being freed in 2014, Heidi has emerged as a leading voice in the innocence movement, serving on the Executive Boards of Exonerated Nation and the Innocence Network, where she drives trauma-informed, client-centered, and peer-led initiatives. She consults nationally on post-release, systems change, and healing-centered practices, amplifying the leadership and voices of directly impacted communities.

Lauren Gottesman is a staff attorney in the Innocence Project’s Strategic Litigation Department, responsible for executing a national litigation strategy for preventing coerced and potentially false confessions. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Lauren was a public defender in the Legal Aid Society’s Manhattan Criminal Defense Practice. During her time there, Lauren worked in Legal Aid's Decarceration Project, where she provided consultation, training, and direct advocacy regarding pre-trial detention issues. Lauren also clerked for the Honorable James L. Dennis on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. She graduated from Cardozo Law School in 2013 and from Trinity College in 2008.

Jimmy Gurulé is a tenured professor of law at Notre Dame Law School and the director and founder of the Notre Dame Exoneration Justice Clinic and the Program for the Defense of Mexican Nationals in Criminal Matters in the United States. Professor Gurulé is also an expert in the field of criminal law, international criminal law, counter-terrorism law, and national security law.

Dr. Kelly Harkins Kincaid is an expert in archaeological genetics and biotechnology, specializing in DNA sequencing and genomic analysis. As a co-founder of Astrea Forensics and Claret Bioscience, she has developed innovative tools for clinical research and forensic science. With over 14 years of experience in next-generation sequencing, Dr. Harkins Kincaid focuses on the analysis of challenging samples, including cell-free DNA, FFPE, rootless hair, and human skeletal remains. She now advises and consults in forensic genomics. Dr. Kincaid holds a PhD in anthropology (bioarchaelogy) from Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Stephanie Hartung is a senior staff attorney at the New England Innocence Project (NEIP). Prior to joining NEIP's staff in 2022, she was a law professor at Suffolk and Northeastern Law School for nearly 20 years, where her research and scholarship focused on the causes of wrongful convictions and the procedural barriers in place that make overturning them so challenging. She began her legal career as a public defender in the California Bay Area.

Rhys Havens has served as Georgia Innocence Project’s development manager since February 2024. They lead the organization’s development and communications team, engaging supporters, building partnerships, and cultivating the community investment that sustains Georgia Innocence Project’s mission. Before joining Georgia Innocence Project, Rhys held several development and communications roles in Atlanta’s nonprofit sector. They earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religious studies from Georgia College & State University.

Anastasia Heeger is the director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project. From 2021 to 2024, Ana was the chief of the Conviction Review Unit at the Westchester County (NY) District Attorney's Office. From 2007 to 2021, Ana was a supervising attorney and the director of the Reinvestigation Project at the Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD). Before OAD, Ana clerked in the Southern District of New York and, before becoming a lawyer, spent a decade as a journalist at ABC News and the Associated Press. She graduated from Brooklyn Law School and holds an MA from the University of Chicago and a BA from the George Washington University.

Esther Hernandez

Reyna Hernandez is the director of reentry initiatives at Road 2 Reentry (R2R). She’s worked on R2R’s development and case management since 2023, assisting clients with their post-incarceration needs. Combining her passions and educational pursuits, she’s been researching the effects of wrongful conviction since 2017 and is currently completing her PhD in sociology at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on how innocence law and policy shape life after incarceration for freed and exonerated people in Illinois. She earned her BA in criminology from University of Texas Dallas, as well as her MA in the social sciences and MA in sociology from the University of Chicago.  

Termaine Hicks was wrongfully convicted in 2002 for a 2001 rape and was freed from a Pennsylvania prison on December 16, 2020. His conviction was vacated after a 2018 petition for post-conviction relief, and pathology reports proved he was not the person who committed the crime. While imprisoned, Termaine wrote 12 plays and musicals, focusing on his mental and spiritual health. He now serves on the Innocence Project’s Exoneree Advisory Council, a board member of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and founded S.T.E.P.U.P., a 501(c)(3) that produces educational films and promotes dialogue on preventing gun violence and bullying.

Janette Horton is a proud wife and stepmom to two wonderful young adults. She currently owns a cleaning company called Horton Housekeeping LLC. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, she enjoys hanging with her family, personal fashion styling, and couponing. Janette’s future goals are to continue supporting her husband, Richard Horton, and his work with the Ohio Innocence Project, and also one day reopening her clothing boutique along with her sister.

Richard Horton was wrongly convicted and spent over 16 years in prison. Through the pain and heartache that comes with a wrongful conviction, he never stopped fighting to clear his name. In 2022, with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project, he was freed, and a judge vacated his 23-year prison sentence. He and his wife, Janette, never gave up, and together they continue to find hope in a sometimes hopeless world.

Laquanda (Faye) Jacobs is a powerful voice for justice reform whose life reflects extraordinary resilience. Wrongfully convicted of murder at 16, she became the only female juvenile in Arkansas sentenced to life without parole and spent 26 years in prison. On July 17, 2018, after sustained advocacy efforts, Faye was released. She has since dedicated herself to helping others. Faye is a board member with Journey to New Life, speaks nationwide about her story, and is deeply involved with the Midwest Innocence Project, Miracle of Innocence, and Exoneration Nation. Faye is the owner of Innocence Too, a transportation business that reflects her commitment to rebuilding her life and empowering her community.

Ronald Jacobsen, a U.S. Navy submarine vet, was born and raised in New York. He was wrongfully convicted in 1990 in Georgia and sentenced to life plus 20 years. After over 30 years on Georgia's chain gang, the Innocence Project took on his case in 2013, and he was exonerated through DNA in August 2021. Now living in Arkansas with his partner Lindy, whom he met the modern way, online, he’s learning to trust again while also navigating PTSD and insomnia. He enjoys fishing, gardening, and embracing life in the "free world," with the love of his life by his side.

Mandy Jaramillo is a supervising appellate attorney in the Statewide Appellate Support Center at the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services (ILS). She has helped to build and lead the support center since its opening in late 2022, and she provides consultations, facilitates trainings, and creates post-conviction resources for litigators. She participated in the revision of the 2023 ILS Appellate and Post-Conviction Standards and co-chaired the 2025 ILS Standards for the Investigation Function of Interdisciplinary Defense Teams. Before ILS, she worked at the Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) as a supervising attorney and director of the Reinvestigation Project where she handled post-conviction cases involving actual innocence and constitutional violations and represented clients in their direct appeals in New York’s intermediate and highest appellate courts. Earlier in her career, Mandy was an investigations attorney at the Innocence Project and a staff attorney at the Center for Family Representation.

Charles Johnson was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison, serving 21 years before being released on September 26, 2016. Against all odds, he was proven innocent thanks to the hard work of his mother and legal team, and he was exonerated in 2017. He has since travelled all across the United States, sharing his story and advocating for others who have also been wrongfully convicted. He has participated in the Landmark Forum, an organization focused on personal growth and development. For the past eight years, he has worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the law firm that paved the way, along with the Exoneration Project and the Center on Wrongful Convictions, in proving his innocence. 

Robert Johnson was exonerated in April 2025 after spending nearly 29 years wrongly imprisoned, starting at age 16. Since his release, Robert has spent quality time with his family (especially his 93-year-old grandmother), secured employment (now with United), received his driver's license, and taken his first flight. He enjoys speaking engagements where he can share his story and help to prevent future injustices. He hopes to become a mentor to young men and steer them on the right path.

Sara Jones, executive director of the Great North Innocence Project, leads the organization’s vision and strategy, financial management and funds development, events, community outreach and public relations, criminal justice policy initiatives, and staff supervision. She began her legal career as an assistant attorney general under Hubert H. (“Skip”) Humphrey, III, practicing in the Solicitor General section. Following that, she practiced commercial litigation at Popham Haik and Nilan Johnson & Lewis. Sara received her law degree from the University of Minnesota and her BS from Northwestern University.

Lauren Kaeseberg is the legal director of the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at the University of Illinois Springfield. Based in Chicago, Lauren has over 20 years of experience working to exonerate and secure freedom for the wrongfully convicted. Lauren has extensive expertise in DNA and forensic science cases and at the IIP, Lauren oversees the legal case work of the project and also works on legislative and policy reform. Lauren's work has helped obtain the exoneration or release of more than 30 innocent men and women, and she works hard to build meaningful and trusting relationships with clients and their families.

Stephanie Kamel is an attorney and director of the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at the University of Illinois Springfield. She joined in 2019 and became director in 2021. Under her collaborative leadership, IIP has grown significantly: expanded client representation and education, secured a state mandate for wrongful conviction training for Illinois police cadets, and tripled its staff. Committed to human rights and justice, she is honored to work alongside IIP colleagues serving clients. She holds a BS in Nursing (cum laude) from Loyola University Chicago, a JD from Santa Clara University, and an LLM in Human Rights Law (with honors) from Northwestern University.

Jerome Kennedy was admitted to the Newfoundland Bar in 1985 and appointed King's Counsel in 2005. He represented many individuals charged with murder and other serious offences and argued numerous appeals in the Supreme Court of Canada. He held various senior Cabinet posts in the Newfoundland and Labrador government, including minister of justice and attorney general. In 2013 he returned to practice with Roebothan McKay Marshall. He has been involved in wrongful conviction work since 1998, is on the Board of Directors of Innocence Canada, and has served as Chair of the Case Review Committee since 2016.

Meredith Kennedy directs the Innocence Network Support Unit at the Innocence Project, a team of professionals dedicated to strengthening individual innocence organizations working in coalition to free innocent people and redress the causes of wrongful convictions. Meredith provides capacity-building support to leaders around the country, helping them identify and achieve goals in the areas of strategic planning, board engagement, and organizational structure. Nothing thrills her more than seeing the growth of the organizations that make up the Innocence Network and witnessing their ability to help more people every year achieve their freedom. She has also managed the Innocence Network Conference for the last 13 years.

Yun-Ching Ko holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in sociology from National Taiwan University, where she is currently pursuing further studies at the Graduate Institute of Interdisciplinary Legal Studies. She serves as the deputy executive director of the Taiwan Innocence Project (TIP), the only nonprofit organization in Taiwan dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted. Since joining TIP in 2017, Yun-Ching has focused on organizational development, fundraising, institutional reform, and public advocacy. She also plays a leading role in TIP’s international collaborations. Yun-Ching is also a translator with 11 published books, covering topics in sociology, gender studies, law, and social issues.

R. Stephen Kramer is the co-founder and president of Indago, an organization that partners with global law enforcement agencies to identify violent crime suspects and victims. A veteran of federal law enforcement, he previously served as FBI in-house counsel for two decades. He is best known for assembling and leading the investigative team that solved the Golden State Killer case and subsequently co-founding the FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team. Earlier in his career, Kramer worked as a federal prosecutor and deputy district attorney.

Lindy Lambert had never heard of the Innocence Project until she met exoneree Ronald Jacobsen in a group chat. Lindy and Ron decided that they would like to meet in real life. Ron felt that he couldn’t continue their relationship without letting Lindy know his “story,” but what helped was that Lindy was an experienced genealogist and completely understood DNA. With that their relationship grew and in 2024 they got engaged. They are currently living in Arkansas, where Lindy has introduced Ron to lake life, camping, and traveling. Lindy along with Ron has become a champion of the Innocence Project cause.

Deanna Lankford is the director of forensic casework at Bode Technology. She holds a Master of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences with an emphasis in forensic DNA and serology from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology from Middle Tennessee State University. Deanna manages casework laboratory operations including high throughput casework, as well as individual customized casework involving Innocence Network cases and cold cases. She has over 29 years’ experience in forensic DNA and biology analysis and review, and has extensive experience with the implementation of advanced DNA technologies. She has provided expert testimony in approximately 60 criminal trials.

Luis Benjamin Lara Escobedo is the director of protection for the United States in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and the director of the Program for Defense of Mexican Nationals in Criminal Matters in the United States. Luis has been a diplomat for Mexico since 1998, specializing in providing consular protection to Mexican nationals from different consular posts in the U.S. Luis's latest contribution to the foreign service has been creating and developing the PDM as one of the main pillars of consular assistance to Mexican nationals in the U.S.

Kenneth (Ken) Lawson is the co-director of the Hawai‘i Innocence Project and a faculty specialist at the William S. Richardson School of Law, where he teaches criminal law. Ken serves on the Innocence Network Executive Board and is a board member of the ACLU of Hawai‘i. Prior to his academic and nonprofit leadership in Hawai’i, he managed his own private legal practice in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Karl Leonard is a senior staff attorney at the Exoneration Project and a lecturer in law in the Exoneration Project Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to joining the Exoneration Project, Karl was an associate in Winston & Strawn’s litigation group. His pro bono activities included the representation of wrongfully-convicted individuals and defending clients in federal criminal matters.

LaToya Levingston is a devoted mother, nurse, and passionate entrepreneur dedicated to empowering families, strengthening relationships, and building generational success. LaToya's career centers on service, leadership, and helping others thrive. She's expanding her mission by launching her healthcare agency and commercial cleaning company – businesses grounded in excellence, integrity, and community impact. LaToya married MartyD, who was wrongfully convicted. They navigate challenges and triumphs of blending families and redefining what love, partnership, and perseverance can be. Their journey is a testament to faith, commitment, and strength of facing adversity together. LaToya's story reminds couples that healing is possible, growth is continuous, and love can thrive through complex circumstances.

MartyD Levingston spent 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After years of fighting for justice with the Ohio Innocence Project, he was released on February 16, 2023. Since coming home, MartyD rebuilt his life –marrying his wife, LaToya Johnson Levingston, becoming a licensed stationary steam engineer, and stepping back into the lives of his children and grandchildren. Together, he and LaToya launched their commercial cleaning business and are pursuing new opportunities to build financial stability for their family. During this session, MartyD shares his journey of resilience, love, and rebuilding life and marriage after incarceration – showing families healing and restoration are possible.

Debra Loevy is appellate counsel at the Exoneration Project and a partner at the civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy. Debra graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1995. After law school Debra spent years addressing poverty law issues at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and at Vermont Legal Aid. Debra also spent several years as a criminal defender for the State of Vermont and as an assistant appellate defender for the State of Illinois before joining Loevy & Loevy and the Exoneration Project in 2008 as appellate counsel for both organizations.

Elizabeth Lopez is assistant general counsel – global competition and alliances for United Airlines, Inc. Elizabeth manages the Legal Department’s Antitrust and Alliances group and oversees legal support for United’s business operations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Elizabeth also serves as chief of staff to United’s president. Elizabeth is founder and serves as president of United’s first Latino/Hispanic Business Resource Group, Somos. A regular pro bono volunteer lawyer for the National Immigrant Justice Center, Elizabeth has successfully petitioned for asylum for several clients and is the recipient of the National Immigrant Justice Center’s 2022 Human Rights Practitioner Award. Elizabeth is actively engaged in her community and holds board positions with MALDEF (Mexican American Defense and Education Fund), the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Chicago Bar Foundation. In 2025, she was re-appointed by Gov. Pritzker to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Elizabeth received a BA with honors and an MA in American history from Stanford University and her JD from Northwestern University. Elizabeth has three children. 

Tim Lopez is a storyteller and educator based in Los Angeles. His stories have been featured on The Moth Mainstage, Radio Hour, The Story Collider, RISK!, and CBS Radio. He is also an instructor with The Moth Community and Education Program, where he has worked with high school students and community partners to craft and perform true personal stories from New York City to Nairobi, Kenya, and beyond.

Halle Love serves as support paralegal for the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services Innocence Program. Halle oversees the workflow of intakes, screenings, and assignments, and assists with preliminary case review of new applications for assistance. She serves as the liaison between Innocence Program staff, applicants, clients, panel attorneys, investigators, and other program partners, and manages data collection for grant progress reports.

Andrew Madrigal, PhD, conducts research focused on wrongful convictions, juvenile justice, and reentry. Most importantly, his journey is inspired by his father’s wrongful conviction and exoneration, which drives his commitment to justice reform. Andrew holds degrees from Rio Hondo College and California State University, Long Beach. He has co-authored scholarly articles, contributed to academic books, and presented at national conferences, aiming to impact policies supporting exonerees and addressing systemic issues in the justice system.

John Marlow is the litigation director of the Washington Innocence Project (WashIP). Prior to joining WashIP in 2023, he served as a public defense attorney for nearly a decade. In that role, he advocated for indigent clients in municipal, district, tribal, superior, and federal courts across western Washington. He developed extensive jury trial experience and handled or consulted on dozens of direct criminal appeals. John received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington. As a student, he led several organizations focusing on criminal and environmental justice reform and LGBTQ+ rights.

Amelia Maxfield joined the Exoneration Project in 2024 from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, where she spent six years representing wrongly convicted individuals. Amelia was also a public defender in the Montgomery County office of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, and post-conviction counsel at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2015.

Donna Mayerson earned her PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Utah. Donna  currently focuses on strengths-based counseling/coaching. Donna and Neal Mayerson co-founded Hummingbird Coaching Services as well as the VIA Institute on Character, which has played an important role in helping to establish a new discipline in the field of psychology: positive psychology. Donna serves on the board of The Mayerson Foundation. In addition to providing funding to the Ohio Innocence Project, Donna has devoted her time and talent to support the attorneys, students, clients, and their families in dealing with primary and secondary trauma and to facilitate post-release adjustment. 

Roger Mitchell Jr., MD, is the president of the National Medical Association and former president of Howard University (HU) Hospital, where he led the strategic vision of the hospital to improve quality and safety practices and ensure continued growth and alignment across the health system. He has served as a tenured professor at HU’s Department of Pathology and on multiple university committees. He is co-author of the book, Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It. He holds a BS in biology from HU and an MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Medical School.

Joey Mogul is a lawyer and organizer working as the director of Movement Partnerships at Movement Law Lab (MLL). Joey was previously a partner at the People’s Law Office for over 25 years where Joey represented survivors of torture, abuse, and misconduct by law enforcement officials. Joey has sought justice for Chicago police torture survivors for nearly 30 years, successfully representing survivors in their post-conviction and civil rights cases. Joey drafted the original city council ordinance providing reparations for the Chicago police (Burge) torture survivors in 2013. In May 2015, the city of Chicago passed the historic legislation providing reparations to the Burge torture survivors, becoming the first municipality to provide systemic redress for racially motivated police violence.

James Moody joined the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) in 2021. Prior to working at MAIP, he was a public defender in Miami, Florida, where he served as both a trial and appellate attorney. Outside of law, James has spent time as an executive in the tech industry, ski instructing, and playing in blues bands. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and New York University School of Law.

Yahya Moore is a paralegal at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project where he assists both lawyers and staff in case management and project development. Yahya spent 22 of his 27+ years wrongfully incarcerated studying law as he litigated his own case. Assisting his peers as they fought to prove their own claims of innocence, Yahya became a certified legal reference aid. Yahya began his bachelor's degree at Villanova University, and was able to become a facilitator for various programs throughout the correctional institution, including "Let's Circle Up," a program rooted in restorative justice.

Alba Morales joined the Brooklyn Law School faculty as an assistant professor of legal writing in 2024. Previously, Alba taught in the Lawyering Program at New York University School of Law. Her research focuses on criminal procedure, particularly the rights of indigent defendants. She began her litigation career in the Legal Aid Society's criminal defense division. She has also worked at the Innocence Project, Human Rights Watch, the Federal Community Defender Office (Capital Habeas Unit) of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Office of the Appellate Defender. She clerked for the Hon. Rosemary Barkett on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kimberly Morant is a woman of strength, grace, and quiet power. From an early age, she carried the values of love, faith, and dedication with her. Kimberly married her childhood sweetheart, Stefon Morant, building a life rooted in love and commitment. As a mother and grandmother, she became a source of warmth and wisdom, often described as “another grandmother to many.” For many years, she worked as a childcare provider, and she dedicated over 25 years as an educator in the New Haven school system. She believed in every child’s potential and worked tirelessly to help them succeed. Above all, Kimberly believes that common sense, kindness, and compassion can change the world.

Marilyn Mulero is a community organizer who uses her life experience, including 28 years in prison (five years on death row) as an innocent woman. Marilyn is vice president of Innocent Demand Justice Now. Marilyn also advocates for wrongfully convicted and unjustly sentenced women, is an experienced public speaker, and frequently organizes gatherings and rallies. Marilyn works every day to bring together incarcerated individuals and the broader community and collaborates across organizations to help justice-impacted people with anxiety, PTSD, stress, and other mental health issues. She is an ambassador with the Illinois Prison Project, a committee member with Walls Turned Sideways, and a reentry case manager with Life Impacters Foundation. Marilyn is the founder of the Wrongful Conviction Trauma Center (WCTC).

Lauren Myerscough-Mueller is a senior staff attorney at the Exoneration Project where she has worked for seven years to fight wrongful convictions and free innocent people. Lauren is also a lecturer in law in the Exoneration Project Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to her work at the Exoneration Project, Lauren represented the wrongfully convicted at the Illinois Innocence Project for over three years. Lauren also practiced as a criminal defense attorney in the Chicago area, both as a private attorney and a public defender.

Stacie Nardizzi is a certified yoga teacher (200-hour Iyengar), trained at Yoga Bodhi under Elizabeth O'Shea Sullivan, and a certified youth specialist yoga instructor (436+ hours) with YogaKids International under the late Marsha Wenig. Her teaching centers on the belief that everybody can access yoga in a way that is authentic to them. Known for her grounded approach to yoga and meditation, Stacie creates space for ease, presence, and personal connection. She works with young adults as an academic college advisor and holds a BA from Scripps College and an MEd from Boston University. Stacie is honored to return to the 2026 Innocence Network Conference.

Peter Neufeld co-founded and is special counsel at the Innocence Project. From 2014-2017, he served on the National Commission on Forensic Science, established by the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. From 1995 to his resignation in 2016, he served on the New York State Commission on Forensic Science, which regulates the two dozen crime laboratories in the state. He is a member emeritus of the boards of the Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. He has lectured and taught students, lawyers, judges, legislators, and scientists on subjects at the intersection of science and criminal justice.

Yoshiyuki Nishi is a Fulbright scholar in the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies (SPILS) at Stanford Law School, a former judge, and an attorney who has worked with Innocence Project Japan. His work focuses on both providing legal defense for innocent people and conducting research on wrongful convictions, with the aim of developing an academic field of wrongful conviction studies in Japan. His current projects include creating the country’s first academic wrongful-conviction database and advancing socio-legal approaches to identifying the causes of wrongful convictions and their prevention. He introduced the research approach called enzai-gaku (“wrongful conviction studies”) in Japan.

Sarah Nix is the client support specialist at the Ohio Innocence Project. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where she earned her baccalaureate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in criminal justice. Her decade of prior professional experience includes work in crisis intervention, resource identification, and managing specialized dockets.

Kenneth Nixon is a Michigan exoneree and the co-founder and president of the Organization of Exonerees, a survivor-led nonprofit creating trauma-informed reentry pathways for individuals returning home after wrongful conviction. After spending nearly 16 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, he has become a nationally recognized advocate for public health-aligned reentry, mental health access, and systems reform. Kenneth is widely sought for his expertise on survivor leadership, program design, and the long-term impacts of wrongful conviction on individuals, families, and communities.  

Stéphanie Nowak re-joined Innocence Canada as executive director in August 2024. She has over a decade of experience working in law and access to justice from administration and fundraising to program development and management. She completed her MBA from EDHEC Business School in Nice, France in 2022 and worked as a foresight consultant for global clients like Adidas and Mondelez while at Rohrbeck Heger in Berlin, Germany. Before her MBA, Stéphanie served as director of education at Innocence Canada for several years.

Barbara O’Brien is a professor at the Michigan State University College of Law. She is the co-editor of the National Registry of Exonerations, which “collects, analyzes and disseminates information about all known exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in the United States, from 1989 to the present.” Her scholarship applies empirical methodology to legal issues, such as identifying predictors of false convictions and examining the role of race in capital punishment. Professor O’Brien received her AB in economics from Bowdoin College, a JD from the University of Colorado, and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Marriam Oliver is the program and operations manager at the Washington Innocence Project. A passionate advocate for justice reform, Marriam brings a deeply personal and transformative perspective to her work, shaped by her own experience of being incarcerated for twenty years after being sentenced as an adult at fourteen years old. While incarcerated, she founded a nonprofit to provide incarcerated women with access to higher education and earned her own college degree. Since her early release in 2021, Marriam has become a powerful voice for system-impacted individuals including through policy advocacy, teaching yoga in prisons, and community organizing.

Vanessa Ortiz joined the Innocence Project in 2023 as assistant director of organizational development. In that role, she provides high-level, customized facilitation and coaching support to individual Network members and organizations through strategies to grow each innocence organization to become stronger, more impactful, and equitable. Previously, Vanessa spent almost two decades working with diverse international humanitarian and development organizations, supporting local civic organizations and groups on multiple continents to achieve their goals of human rights and justice. Vanessa holds an MA in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Marcelous Pittman is a native of the south side of Chicago.  Despite being born with a heart defect, he grew up as a very athletic kid and was raised by his grandmother. Marcelous was wrongfully convicted and wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years. He was released in 2020.  Marcelous has worked at United Airlines for almost three years as a Ramp Agent at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. As a United Ramp Agent, Marcelous is integral to the airline maintaining an on-time operation. He manages the loading and unloading of baggage into aircraft, ensuring that baggage gets to its final destination, and receives and dispatches aircraft, making sure the aircraft depart on time. Marcelous was the first candidate hired by United as part of its partnership with the Innocence Project.

Kyle Pitts joined Momentum Advisors in 2014, from PNC Investments, and ascended the ranks to become a partner in 2022. Kyle’s financial services experience began in 2005, when he received a fellowship to study investment banking in Verbier, Switzerland as a college student.   After graduating from college in 2006, Kyle spent several years at UBS, where he worked in wealth management supporting a team of financial advisors. He then entered the financial advisor training program at Merrill Lynch before landing at PNC. Kyle holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University.

Micaela Prandi is the project coordinator at Innocence Project Argentina and has worked as a staff attorney since 2020. She teaches in the legal clinic at the University of San Andrés. Her work addresses forensic science, wrongful convictions, gender equity, and the use of international human rights law in post-conviction review.  She completed the coursework for her master’s in international human rights law at the University of Buenos Aires and is finalizing her thesis. She previously served as a junior researcher at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, studying gender and justice systems in Latin America.

Shameesha Pryor is a paralegal at the Exoneration Project. She graduated from Connecticut College as a Posse Foundation recipient and in their Africana Studies major department. After completing three years, bringing the needs of community members to the forefront with policymakers, she received a certificate in community action and public policy. She worked as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. She is a three-year AmeriCorps alum, serving with City Year Chicago and as a recruitment and cohort liaison leader with a certification in organizational leadership. Shameesha is also the president of the board for Road to Re-Entry, where she assists her exonerated clients after their release.

Janis C. Puracal is the executive director of the Forensic Justice Project. She was a young civil litigator when her brother, Jason, was wrongfully convicted in Nicaragua, and she became devoted to innocence work after she successfully represented Jason in an international campaign to win his exoneration and bring him home. Janis is a member of the Legal Task Group for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science, established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She is also an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law School where she teaches a course on wrongful convictions.

Thommy L. Purnell Jr. is the founder and executive director of Road 2 Reentry, an organization dedicated to providing reentry support to the freed and exonerated community. As an exoneree himself, Thommy is uniquely situated to assist clients in overcoming the many barriers they face when navigating their cases and when reentering society. Impassioned by his own fight for freedom and justice, Thommy spent over a decade as a paralegal, focusing his work on civil rights litigation. Thommy graduated from Roosevelt University with a bachelor’s in paralegal studies and a minor in psychology in 2004.

Elizabeth Ramirez was one of four women, known as the San Antonio Four, who were wrongfully convicted of the sexual assault of two underage girls. She was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to 37.5 years in prison. Her son, Hector, was two years old when she entered the Hobby Prison Unit. Elizabeth was finally exonerated in 2016, when the court declared her and her three codefendants factually innocent.

Chloe Reitherman is a southern California native and case manager for Exonerated Nation, supporting the reentry and long-term well-being of people who were wrongfully convicted. She brings over 16 years of experience in mediation, organizational development, training, human resources, and trauma-informed support. Chloe focuses on empowerment through education and helping exonerees rebuild with the tools they need to thrive. Her work includes individualized service planning, connecting clients to housing, healthcare, education, and legal resources, and building trusted relationships that honor lived experience. She also contributes to program design, resource networks, and statewide collaboration, including developing standardized case management practices and training curricula for partner organizations. 

Ciera Renee is a public health practitioner and trauma-informed care specialist whose work bridges mental health, community violence intervention, and survivor-centered healing. With extensive experience supporting individuals impacted by state violence and generational trauma, she designs programs that integrate clinical insight with community-based support models. Ciera partners with grassroots organizations, clinicians, and reentry leaders to build pathways that address long-term emotional well-being, family reunification, and sustainable stability. Her cross-sector expertise brings a critical health-focused lens to the innocence field and strengthens collaborative models for exoneree healing.

Megan Richardson is a clinical instructor and staff attorney at the Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP). Prior to joining WIP, she worked as a staff attorney at the Exoneration Project and as a clinical teaching fellow at the Michigan Innocence Clinic. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School where she was awarded the Irving Stenn Jr. Award, which is presented to students who have demonstrated leadership and contributed through extracurricular activities to the well-being and strength of the Law School or the University. Prior to law school, Megan worked on federal policy matters in Washington, D.C.

Larry Rosen is a master storytelling instructor and story coach with The Moth, proud to work regularly with individuals and diverse communities throughout the U.S. and in selected cities worldwide. Larry has been teaching, directing, and producing storytelling, theater, improvisation, and sketch comedy for more than 30 years in connection with such institutions as Second City, the NYU Steinhardt Department of Drama Therapy, and playwriting programs at Hunter College and SUNY Purchase.

Pamela Rubeo is a supervisor at the Office of the State Appellate Defender, where she has been representing indigent clients on appeal for 22 years. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago School of Law and is the immediate past president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, for which she serves on the Restorative Justice Committee. Pam also volunteers on a pro bono team that represents indigent prisoners seeking parole and clemency. Pam is a lifelong resident of Chicago where she lives with her two teenage daughters.

Dr. Yusef Salaam was elected to New York City Council in 2023. He was wrongfully convicted in the “Central Park jogger” case in New York City with four other young men. His conviction was overturned in 2002. Over the past two decades, Yusef has shared his story to educate the public about the impact of mass incarceration and police brutality in our justice system. He regularly advocates for criminal justice reform, prison reform, and the abolition of juvenile solitary confinement and capital punishment. Yusef was awarded an honorary doctorate (2014) and is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama (2016).

Suzy Salamy is the director of social work at the Innocence Project. Suzy works with the social work department to support the recently freed and exonerated clients returning home after wrongful conviction and imprisonment. The department works with each newly released client to acclimate back into a changed society, connecting them to housing, medical care, and providing supportive counseling. Suzy has a background in photography and film and utilizes her skillset as a therapeutic tool when supporting our clients in their healing. She received her BA from Bard College and master’s in social work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. 

Nilam A. Sanghvi is the legal director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, where she has worked since 2013. In this role, Nilam oversees all of the legal efforts of the organization, including identifying, investigating, and litigating cases of actual innocence and spearheading the Project's policy efforts focused on increasing access to the courts for the wrongfully convicted and preventing the convictions of innocent people. Before joining the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Nilam was a supervising attorney and clinical teaching fellow in Georgetown University's Appellate Litigation Program. Nilam also teaches appellate advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Barry Scheck is co-founder and special counsel at the Innocence Project and professor of law emeritus at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Barry began his career as a public defender, has tried several high-profile criminal defense and civil rights cases in state and federal courts, and is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, where he serves as a trustee of the NACDL Foundation. For more than two decades, he served as a commissioner on New York’s Forensic Science Review Board, a body that regulates the state’s forensic science laboratories, and is a founding member of the Legal Task Group for the Organization of Scientific Area Committees at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is now teaching a seminar at the NYU School of Law on “Aligning AI Tools with Social and Democratic Values” with Elizabeth Daniel Vasquez.

Melissa Segura

Michael (Mike) Semanchik is the executive director of The Innocence Center, an independent innocence organization based in California. He has successfully secured the release of numerous wrongfully convicted clients. Mike began his career in innocence work as a law student at the California Western School of Law's clinic, the California Innocence Project, before becoming an investigator, staff attorney, and the managing attorney, before joining The Innocence Center.

Tarak Shah is the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network (CLEAN) partnerships manager at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science and member of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), where he leads U.S.-based collaborations. At the CLEAN Police Records Access Project, he manages an interdisciplinary effort to build a statewide database of police use-of-force and misconduct. Tarak has also applied AI methods to retrieve and extract wrongful-conviction case documents using data from Innocence & Justice Louisiana and the National Registry of Exonerations. Previously, he developed analytics tools to support major gift fundraising at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dan Slepian is an award-winning investigative journalist at NBC News and one of the nation’s leading voices on wrongful convictions and the criminal legal system. For nearly three decades at Dateline, he has produced dozens of documentaries and investigations, including hidden-camera exposés and pioneering coverage of mass incarceration. His hit podcast, Letters from Sing Sing, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist, and he has earned numerous Emmys, Murrow Awards, and national honors including the 2024 Jim Dwyer Award for Journalism for his coverage of the case of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez in The Sing Sing Chronicles.

Bhavan K. Sodhi is the chief program officer at the Innocence Project, where she manages and supervises the client intake and evaluation, post-conviction litigation, data science and research, strategic litigation, social work, and public policy reform departments. Previously, Bhavan served as the Innocence Project's director of intake and case evaluation, legal director at Innocence Canada, the executive director of Osgoode Innocence Project, and an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Bhavan co-founded and instructed the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

Linda D. Solomon, MEd, is an educator, restorative justice practitioner, and community leader dedicated to healing, justice, and collective liberation. A skilled restorative justice circle facilitator, trainer, and coach, she is also certified in Sawubona Healing Circles, supporting individuals and communities through practices grounded in presence, accountability, and repair. She co-hosts Urban Empowerment Today and Our View, platforms uplifting the voices and lived experiences of Black women and returning citizens, and hosts Confronting Injustice: Upfront and Personal, a program of Confronting Injustice Inc. A member of the Association of Black Psychologists, Linda blends strong academic preparation with grassroots experience to advance wellness, justice, and meaningful transformation.

James (Jimmy) Soto was exonerated after 42 years of incarceration. He is a human rights advocate and earned his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program. Jimmy was also an active member of the Prison+Neighborhood Arts/Education Project's Think Tank, which explores long-term sentencing practices in Illinois and nationwide. Jimmy is a paralegal with Northwestern Law School's Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, a research assistant with Northwestern’s Epistemic Reparations Global Working Group, and a justice fellow with the University of Chicago’s Beyond Prisons Initiative. He is the founder and director of the #BuildCommunitiesNotPrisons campaign, and he plans to go to law school next year. 

Tameeka Sparks is a longtime resident of Philadelphia. She is the mother of David Sparks, an exonerated individual from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was incarcerated for 17 years for a crime he did not commit.

Stephanie Spurgeon is a paralegal with the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF). Previously, she was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a crime she did not commit, and was released in August 2020 after advocacy efforts led by Innocence Network  organizations. While incarcerated, Stephanie became a certified law clerk – a role she embraced as part of her pursuit of justice and her commitment to supporting those wrongfully convicted. Since joining IPF in 2024, she has brought unique lived-experience insight, passion for reform, and a deep commitment to supporting others impacted by the criminal legal system. 

Hershey Suri is a Gursikh director and producer whose work bridges legal advocacy and theatrical storytelling. As the founder and artistic director of Pop Up! Productions, she creates culturally grounded, justice-centered performance – including a South Asian reinterpretation of Next to Normal. A former civil rights paralegal now studying at the University of Chicago Law School, she approaches theatre and law through a trauma-informed lens to elevate marginalized voices and imagine more humane systems of justice. She was awarded the 2024 Jeff Impact Fellowship and named one of Broadway’s Theatre Producers of Color for 2026. She is represented by Dream Team Talent.

Erica J. Suter is the director of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (MOPD) Innocence Project Clinic (IPC) at Maryland Carey Law where she supervises student attorneys and works closely with MOPD attorneys on individual innocence cases and broader reform efforts. She also currently serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Innocence Network. Before founding the clinic at Maryland Carey Law, she led the MOPD IPC at the University of Baltimore School of Law and previously practiced privately as a highly respected appellate and post-conviction attorney. She earned her MA from the University of Chicago and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Imran Syed is a clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, and he serves as co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic. In addition to investigating and litigating all types of innocence cases, Imran teaches in the areas of forensic science and criminal justice. He has published several law review articles relating to “shifted science” litigation and procedural standards for litigating post-conviction cases in state and federal courts. Imran graduated from the University of Michigan in 2008 with a degree in political science, and he obtained a JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 2011.

Katie Takeuchi is a staff attorney at the Notre Dame Exoneration Justice Clinic's Program for the Defense of Mexican Nationals in Criminal Matters in the United States (PDM). Katie is currently working with Innocence Network members and other attorneys to represent Mexican nationals in cases across the country. Katie's passion for the PDM's mission stems from her own experiences witnessing family members immigrate to the United States and growing up in an immigrant community.

Joshua Tepfer is a senior attorney with and co-director of the Exoneration Project. Josh has been involved in the exoneration of roughly 300 men and women, and he litigates wrongful conviction cases all over the country.

Craig J. Trocino is the director of Miami Law's Innocence Clinic. The Innocence Clinic is a member of the Innocence Network and is dedicated to identifying and exonerating the wrongfully convicted in Florida. Before joining the law school, Craig was an assistant Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the Southern Region of Florida where his practice focused on representing death sentenced inmates in post-conviction and habeas corpus proceedings. He is also an experienced AV Peer Review-rated appellate litigator, having been counsel of record on more than 200 direct appeals and extraordinary writs in state and federal courts.

Jessica Van Dyke graduated from the University of Tennessee Law School, where she cut her teeth on post-conviction work in the Wrongful Convictions Clinic. After eight years at Parker Lawrence Cantrell & Smith, she helped launch the Tennessee Innocence Project in 2019. Jessica graduated from Knox College and has an MA from Vanderbilt University. She served on the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL) Board of Directors and has been the recipient of TACDL’s Workhorse Award and the Robert W. Ritchie Service Award. She is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Anna Vasquez is the director of outreach and education for the Innocence Project of Texas, a role she embraced after surviving a 13-year prison sentence for a crime that never occurred. At just 19, she and three friends – later known as the San Antonio Four – were wrongfully convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in a case dating back to 1994. Together, they spent 24 years fighting to prove their innocence, and in 2016 the Court of Criminal Appeals declared all four women actually innocent. Anna speaks and educates nationally about wrongful convictions, LGBTQ+ issues, and perseverance, including through the award-winning documentary, Southwest of Salem. 

Elizabeth Daniel Vasquez is the founder and president of the nonprofit The Forensic Evidence Table and the principal of E. Daniel Vasquez Consulting. She also serves as a coordinating discovery attorney for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and is an adjunct professor of law at New York University School of Law, where she teaches on Artificial Intelligence and criminal law. Previously, she founded the Science & Surveillance Project at Brooklyn Defender Services, litigated civil rights cases involving forensic error at Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, and served as a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez is an actor, activist, and the executive director of Voices From Within, a nonprofit with a growing model for reentry support, crime prevention, and authentic reform. In 2024, he was exonerated after a 27-year battle against a wrongful conviction. He met with President Biden at the White House to discuss justice reform, led and curated TEDx at Sing Sing, and is the focus of the Pulitzer-finalist podcast Letters from Sing Sing, the book The Sing Sing Files, and MSNBC’s Emmy-winning docuseries The Sing Sing Chronicles. JJ also co-stars in A24’s Oscar-nominated film Sing Sing and continues to champion change through media, education, and activism.

Prama Verma is the manager of development and Network capacity building at the Network Support Unit (NSU) of the Innocence Project. In this role, she provides fundraising and communications support to the 70+ organizations that make up the Innocence Network on strategy, facilitating working groups and discussions, and creating templates and resources. She joined the NSU in 2023 after nearly ten years in nonprofit development and communications roles across a wide range of New York-based organizations. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Rutgers University. 

Kristin Verrill is the executive director of Georgia Innocence Project, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to correcting and preventing the wrongful conviction of innocent people in Georgia. Kristin is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Georgia Innocence Project’s mission, including working with the board of directors and leading ten full-time and two part-time staff. Kristin comes to Georgia Innocence Project after a 25+ year career in civil legal services, where she spearheaded technology innovation to improve client access and staff efficiency, increased funding for legal services, and founded Atlanta Legal Aid's Veterans Law Project.

Amanda Wallwin is a state policy advocate at the Innocence Project, where she lobbies for state level policy changes to prevent, reveal and correct wrongful convictions. She joined the Innocence Project after over a decade as chief of staff to New York State Assemblymember Dan Quart. Amanda is a graduate of Vassar College and holds a master's degree in public administration from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College. She is serving in her second term on her local school board and is a member of the New York Organizing Committee at Local Progress. 

Matthew Wasserman is a staff attorney in the Innocence Project’s Strategic Litigation Department, where he focuses on eyewitness identification evidence. Before joining the Innocence Project, Matt worked at Bronx Defenders and the Office of the Appellate Defender. He also worked as an associate at a civil rights firm. Matt clerked for the Honorable Allyne R. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Jane B. Stranch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has a JD from the New York University School of Law, a master’s from the Sorbonne, and a BA from Reed College.

Lyla Wasz-Piper is a staff attorney at the Exoneration Project and the civil rights law firm Loevy + Loevy. Lyla graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2020, where she was executive director of the Prison Legal Assistance Project. She began her legal career at First Defense Legal Aid, followed by clerkships in the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Lyla has also worked at the Legal Aid Society Bronx Criminal Division, Harvard Law Criminal Justice Institute, and Harvard Law Crimmigration Clinic. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, she now lives in Chicago with her husband and two dogs.

Jessa Webber has been with the Cooley Innocence Project since the beginning of 2023, serving as a staff attorney under a grant in conjunction with the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). In her role, Jessa oversees Wayne County, Michigan, cases from initial screening to forensic testing, CIU negotiations, and litigation when necessary. Jessa also assists with furthering Michigan policy initiatives and student instruction.

Carl Williams was released from prison in 2020 after wrongfully serving 26 years. Carl lost so much during his wrongful imprisonment, which started when he was just 17 years old. Since his release, Carl started a business that allows him to use his woodworking and carpentry skills while also providing jobs and mentorship to youth in the community: www.royalmensolutions.com. Carl is also a policy consultant with Chicago Beyond as well as a case manager for the Chicago Torture Justice Center and the Precious Blood Ministries of Reconciliation.

Tyrece Williams was wrongfully convicted of an April 1990 murder and served the entirety of his two-decade-long prison sentence. Nearly 16 years after his prison release, and after a multi-day, high-profile hearing, Tyrece's conviction was vacated, and he was formally exonerated. He continues his fight for a certificate of innocence. Tyrece spends much of his time with his wife of nearly four decades and his children. He also is a fixture of support for all clients fighting to overturn their convictions in court, and he can be found attending and watching almost every court date for any Exoneration Project client.

Keith Winfield was released on parole in 2025, after being sentenced to life in prison for child abuse that never occurred. A court initially vacated his conviction in 2019 based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to consult with a medical expert, but the Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed the decision, finding that counsel's strategy was reasonable. While Keith was initially released on bail, he was remanded to serve out the remainder of his term.  Since his release in 2025, Keith – a former police officer – enjoys spending time with his wife and family. He has always maintained his innocence and is still fighting for his exoneration.

Edward (Eddie) Wright was exonerated in August of 2025 after spending 41 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. He learned the law while incarcerated, using his knowledge to fight his own wrongful conviction, assist others with their legal briefs, and improve living conditions inside the prison walls. Eddie successfully sued the Department of Corrections for civil rights violations after representing himself in two separate jury trials. He has argued before the Superior and Appeals Courts in Massachusetts and was an active member of his legal team alongside the New England Innocence Project and pro bono counsel. He has published two novels.

Pamela Zbarsky is the chief legal counsel at Innocence Canada. In this capacity, she manages the organization’s national case load, evaluating complex innocence claims for potential representation by the organization. She also leads the team of staff lawyers and students representing those innocent people across Canada in the pursuit of overturning their wrongful convictions. Before joining Innocence Canada, Pamela was the senior associate at a highly respected criminal defence firm in downtown Toronto. She successfully defended clients charged with a wide range of criminal offences including homicide.

Yiwen (Ophelia) Zhang is a PhD candidate in the forensic psychology section at Maastricht University. She leads the development of the Asian Registry of Wrongful Convictions, a regional initiative documenting verified wrongful conviction cases across Asia. Her research focuses on forgetting, false memory formation, child investigative interviewing, and suggestibility. She has published work on the impact of forgetting on false memories, avatar-based child sexual abuse investigative interviews, and comparisons between AI and human interviewers in investigative contexts.