HELP US GET YOU THE DATA YOU NEED We need your help to put data & compassion into the conversation about ending mass incarceration.

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Thank you,
Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate

Board of Directors and Advisory Board

Board of Directors*

  • Sharon Cromwell, Director,
    Deputy State Director, New York Working Families Party (bio) Sharon Cromwell is the Deputy State Director of the New York Working Families Party. She has ten years of experience working with community-based organizations, labor unions, and advocacy organizations to launch new programs, develop member leaders, and lead legislative, budget and electoral campaigns. Prior to joining the Working Families Party, Sharon was the City Gun Violence Prevention Manager at Everytown for Gun Safety and previously worked on policy and strategic campaigns with SEIU 32BJ.
  • Nora V. Demleitner, Director
    Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law
    2016 Interview
  • Ed Epping, Director
  • Timothy Fisher, Director
  • Daniel Kopf, Treasurer
    Writer, Quartz
    2016 interview (bio) Dan Kopf is the data editor of Quartz and worked as a data scientist before becoming a journalist. He lives in Oakland, California and has been volunteering with the Prison Policy Initiative since February 2015. He is the co-author of several Prison Policy Initiative reports, including The Racial Geography of Mass Incarceration, Separation by Bars and Miles: Visitation in state prisons, Prisons of Poverty: Uncovering the pre-incarceration incomes of the imprisoned, and Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time.
  • Elena Lavarreda, President
    New Jersey Political Director, SEIU 32BJ (bio) Elena Lavarreda is the New Jersey Political Director for SEIU 32BJ , a labor union that represents essential building service workers and fights for economic, social, and racial justice for all working people. Elena’s first job after graduating from Smith College in 2008 was as a research associate for the Prison Policy Initiative. Among other projects, she co-authored reports about prison gerrymandering in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. The Massachusetts report became the basis of a resolution that passed the state legislature in August 2014. In 2013 Elena returned as a consultant and researched the effects of prison gerrymandering on school board districts. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her dog and partner.
  • Bernadette Rabuy, Clerk
    Trial Attorney, Homicide/Major Crime Defense Unit, New York County Defender Services (bio) Bernadette Rabuy is a Trial Attorney in the Homicide & Major Crime Defense Unit at New York County Defender Services and a Senior Policy Analyst at the Prison Policy Initiative. At the Prison Policy Initiative, Bernadette’s research has focused on prison and jail visitation and making key criminal justice data accessible to the public. She co-authored the first comprehensive national report on the video calls industry, Screening Out Family Time: The for-profit video visitation industry in prisons and jails, which has played a key role in protecting in-person family visits in Portland, Oregon, California, and Texas. Her research has also included Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time, which finds that the median bail bond amount in the U.S. represents eight months of income for the typical detainee.
  • Leslie M. Smith, Director
  • Paul Watterson, Director

*Organizations for identification purposes only.


Advisory Board*


In memory

*Organizations for identification purposes only.



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