We Are Responsible Parties

Janet Connors is a longtime community and social justice activist who brings over 50 years of experience working with youth and families in community based organizations in Boston neighborhoods.  As a restorative/transformative justice practitioner she has done Survivor Support work with Survivors of Homicide Victims at the Louis Brown Peace Institute; and currently still does this work through the Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery at BIDMC and through the community grown Survivor Support organization known as Legacy Lives On.   Through her own deep love of Community; all of the above mentioned opportunities and as a Community Fellow at the Center for Restorative Justice and UNITY Circles, she has brought restorative justice to schools as both a direct practitioner and trainer.  She has past experience as a Circle Keeper in Juvenile Justice, and currently through the RISE Federal Court Program, several MCI Prisons, as well as in many beloved grass roots community settings.

A Survivor herself, Janet lost her son Joel to homicide in 2001.  Her own personal journey in meeting in restorative dialogue with two of the young men responsible for her son’s murder brought about a change in policy to the State of Massachusetts which now offers victims the option of calling for and participating in Victim-Offender Dialogue.

Janet is a frequent public speaker; panel participant locally and nationally; is on the faculty for MOVA Advocate Academy, was interviewed by HUMANKIND NPR and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED Radio Shows; is the subject of the documentary CIRCLE UP.  She is the recipient of a National Award for Leadership in Community and Restorative Justice; Chomsky Peace and Justice Award, Mothers of Courage Award, and UNITY Circles Community Impact Award.

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My name is Shondell Davis, and I have lived in Boston, Massachusetts my entire life. I am a widow of 18 years and the mother of six children. My youngest son Johnny was a victim of murder in April 2009. I have worked in the medical field for over 30 years as a pharmacy technician. I have worked in several locations and have developed many skills in the pharmacy from filling, dispensing/inventory, and IV.
Additionally, I have also worked and volunteered for the American Red Cross and received training in disaster services. This assignment included going to scenes after fire or disaster and following up with caseworkers to resolve any issues. I currently hold several college degrees. First, I have my bachelor’s degree in general studies from May 2008. Also, a master’s degree in organizational leadership and management from May 2016 from Springfield College. Lastly, in May of 2021, I recently graduated with a Doctorate in Biblical Studies with an application in Theory and Leadership. In addition to my schooling, I have also completed multiple certificate programs: a medical assistant program, a real estate program, a human service practitioner program, E.M.T training, Facilitator’s training, Health and Human Management skills training, behavioral studies program, and trauma certification to further develop my skills as a Pharmacy Technician.
My current title is Community Trauma Healing Specialist at the Cory Johnson Program. I have the pleasure of working in the community with families and people affected by traumatic events. My role is to advocate and assist families by meeting their needs. This role requires me to connect them with resources and rebuild necessary skills to help them recover from their issues while learning to navigate their new daily lives. My job is essential because I give the people the tools and resources needed to help them cope when triggered by past events.
The passion that I put into my work is from my heart. I always wanted to be in the hospital setting because it is where I feel passionate and at my best. However, after losing my husband and son, I felt a shift in my desires.
Some things happened to me that did not feel humanely right and caused me to suffer in silence for years. Now, I no longer want to be silenced. Instead, I want to help others dealing with loss or a traumatic event. I want people to know that you do not have to do this alone. I want to help inspire others as people have helped me. I want others to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.

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Ramona Jones  is A mother, grandmother, and survivor of homicide. She is active in her Legacy Lives On community, and involved in Restorative Justice Work. Ramona works in the area of youth literacy in the Boston public school system. She does this work in memory of her son Anthony, because reading was very important and he wanted his mother to use her special connection with young children to help them learn to read.

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 Kilra Hylton is a mother, grandmother, and activist. Before July 2nd 2015, the day her beloved son Raheem Ramirez was murdered, I took so many moments for granted. Moving forward she has tried to be aware of memories & moments and how important they are because in a matter of minutes life can change drastically with no warning.

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Mr. Crisman’s career, spans over 50 years working across the United States,
Canada, Europe and Africa. His experience, includes about a third of that time
working with start-up companies: both directly and as part of a venture capital
firm, a third with large companies in management roles and the third with small to
medium sized mature businesses as owner and advisor. Since 2021, he has
focused the majority of this time pro-bono on assisting a select set of founders of
very small profit or start up non-profit organizations. Throughout his career Doug
has always been focused on growing a business to meet the needs of its
Stakeholders. In the small business segment his focus is on ensuring the
Founder or Owner is able to work on their business, not in their business.
Crisman is also a private investor, has participated in various Angle Groups in
NJ, NY and CT, and served as a mentor at Tech Launch, a New Jersey Incubator.
He has participated in committees and as a board member for various
professional groups including ACG and SIM. He currently continues to serve on
the Board of Advisors for Einstein's Alley.

For over twenty-five years through Oldhorses, Inc., a Transition Partner business
consulting firm he founded, Mr. Crisman helped dozens of owners of small
businesses grow their businesses to meet their personal visions; several with
exits producing high returns for the owners and investors. In addition, he
personally bought two businesses, quickly grew them and then sold them for
over 3X revenues; one of them to a public company now owned by IBM.
Doug is currently residing in Kansas City, MO and is the Founder and Chairman
of Friends of AFRISOS LLC in Kansas City, MO as well as Vision Growth Impact
(VGI) Ltd in Arusha Tanzania (East Africa).
These two organizations are helping a select group of both Profit and Non-Profit Organizations in the US andTanzania achieve growth and sustainability. Whether Doug’s role was as a Bank Officer, Field Quality Manager, Consultative Salesman, Marketing Manager, COO or CEO his personal objectives have always been focused on how to get the business to first focus on the critical aspects of its processes and resources so it can align its limited capital to perform more effectively; as well as grow successfully.
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Amanda J.G. Napior, MDiv, PhD

Amanda co-creates and facilitates inclusive, collaborative, often transgressive spaces through reflexivity, ritual, play, and trauma-informed practices. As someone with mostly dominant identities and who has been impacted by trauma, Amanda partners with people working through trauma healing, social identity development, active allyship, and collective responsibility for harm and joy in our great big human family. A work in progress like us all, Amanda is obsessed with belonging, healing, and collective liberation.

An Instructor in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, Amanda supports the next generation of religious and ethical leaders. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and for general audiences, including in two collaborative book projects on trauma- informed yoga. She is currently working on a book entitled From the Inside: Personal Transformation and Spirituality in American Corrections, a critical religious prison ethnography about the lived and historical connections between incarceration and preoccupations with personal change in the United States. Standing in solidarity with people living in carceral systems, Amanda is committed to people working in them, too: liberation is an infinity-sum game.

Amanda received a PhD in Religious Studies and a certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Boston University, an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. in religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is currently pursuing a Conflict Mediation Certificate through the Community Dispute Settlement
Center.
 
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Noble is responsible for TPP’s business pipeline, program management, developing programming, and fundraising. Also, a lead facilitator and circle keeper for TPP, Noble brings over seven years of Restorative Justice Circle Keeper and facilitation experience. He has worked with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, students, law enforcement officials, attorneys, community members, and business professionals. Noble leads restorative justice circles, speaks publicly, volunteers, and mentors' youth through Communities for Restorative Justice, Everyday Boston, and Roxbury District Court’s CHOICE Program. Noble is a Teaching Assistant at Columbia University’s School of Social Work where he has been leading circles for the past four semesters. Noble Co-founded Men Exploring Their Own Obstacles, a curriculum that aims to address toxic masculinity, rape culture, and sexism within organizations, schools, institutions, and government.

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Armand is the Executive Director of Transformational Prison Project, where he is also a lead facilitator and circle keeper. A former coordinator of Everyday Boston’s Bridge Project, Armand has nearly a decade of experience developing and leading Restorative Justice (RJ) programming. While incarcerated, he founded the Youthful Offender Coalition for those who committed their crime under age 18 and Men Exploring Their Own Obstacles, which addresses toxic masculinity, rape culture, and sexism. In addition to his work with TPP, Armand leads restorative justice circles and mentor’s youth through Roxbury District Court's CHOICE Program and is Volunteer Development and Community Outreach Coordinator at Communities for Restorative Justice. He is also a member of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Roundtable on Racial Disparities in Massachusetts Courts and facilitates circles for first year law students at Harvard Law School.

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Honorably known as Rickey McGee, is a Roxbury native. Well known for his leadership as an organizer, educator, and crisis manager in the Massachusetts Correctional Institutions. He has served in many leadership capacities throughout the last 26 years in various institutions, before becoming the founder of The Harriet Tubman Project, a legal advocacy class for incarcerated men. Fu-Quan has dedicated his life studying law, with the goal of dismantling the structural racism that engineers and exploits our most marginalized communities. 

Through his leadership, Fu-Quan has mentored and assisted in the rehabilitation of many incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men. His mission is to show his community that positive education always corrects error. Most importantly, freedom begins in our mindset, and nothing will change until we change ourselves. 

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Richard Smith is a nationally recognized expert on trauma and healing for survivors of interpersonal and systemic violence. Richard has over two decades of experience developing and leading community-based programs. He has helped organizations throughout the country build their capacity to heal and empower BIPOC folks and marginalized communities. Richard also is an assistant professor at LIU Brooklyn's Social Work Department. Richard has guest lectured at numerous colleges and universities on issues such as systemic racism, mass incarceration, and trauma and healing. Richard is a sought after keynote and plenary speaker for national victim services, restorative justice, and criminal justice conferences. Richard previously served as the National Director of United for Healing Equity, Common Justice, where he led their national policy and organizing work. Richard is the co-founder of Alignment Global LLC, a social enterprise that's mission is to cultivate cultural reclamation, restorative practices, healing justice, and system reform. He holds a master's degree from the University at Albany in Africana Studies and is presently a doctoral candidate at SUNY Albany's School of Welfare. His research focus is on the intersection of the trauma to prison pipeline and the male survivorship of childhood sexual abuse. Richard is a Wood Johnson Forward Promise Fellowship for Leadership Fellow. He is the proud father of Kaden and Kaleb.

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Born and raised in Dorchester to immigrant parents, Jacqueline Fonseca is a dedicated entrepreneur, passionate social advocate, and committed community organizer. As the Co-Executive Director at The Harriet Tubman Project and the Intake Coordinator at The New England Innocence Project, Jacqueline leverages her background in criminal justice and sociology to champion the cause of wrongfully incarcerated individuals.

Furthermore, as a licensed realtor adept at navigating Boston's affordable housing market, Jacqueline's extensive knowledge of community resources positions her as a valuable resource for marginalized families. Jacqueline's lifelong mission is to foster equitable opportunities for all, even if it means creating them ourselves.

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Hilary Binda is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tufts Education & Reentry Network program MyTERN. This is a program of the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) that provides college and reentry resources as part of a restorative justice program for returning citizens.

Through the Tufts Education & Reentry Network program MyTERN, the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) provides college and reentry resources as part of a restorative justice program for returning citizens.
This program runs on the Tufts main campus and offers a 14-credit Civic Studies certificate program for people directly impacted by the carceral system. MyTERN students are those who want to pursue higher education while receiving reentry support in technology and financial literacy as well as employment and housing. Run through restorative practices, MyTERN students engage in a formal experience with and training in restorative justice circle keeping in partnership with the Transformational Prison Project, Responsible Party, and Legacy Lives On. 

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Don Ike Jones was sentenced at the age of seventeen to life without the possibility of parole and 27 ½ to 55 years consecutively. Don is originally from South Carolina and moved to Philadelphia with his young mother and older brother when he was seven. Don only remember meeting his father twice in his entire life.

Don was recruited at age eleven by local drug dealers to be their lookout, which lead to Don selling drugs and being placed in three juvenile facilities from the age of thirteen to seventeen before being convicted of murder and related charges in 1992. While incarcerated Don achieved what he was unable to achieve in free society, becoming a loving and caring man. Don attended college and was president of the Graterford branch of the NAACP and created several other projects that lead to awards from the PA Senate, House of Representatives and Philadelphia City Council.

Don also received a citation from the United States Justice Department for his work on changing the criminal mindset. Don was an active Graterford think tank member since 2006 and assisted in trading over 150 Inside/Out instructors from all over the world. Don was released in 2019. He created the nonprofit GROWN and has been mentoring youth and returning citizens since his release. Don currently work for the Philadelphia District Attorney office as the Crime Intervention Specialist.

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Brandon Flood served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. During his tenure as Secretary, he was responsible for modernizing Pennsylvania's executive clemency process, streamlining the Board's filing and administrative review protocols, increasing the overall number of clemency applicants by more than 400 percent, and making the executive clemency process as accessible than its every been since its inception in 1872. A successful recipient of a pardon himself from Governor Tom Wolf in March of 2019, prior to his appointment, Secretary Flood spent nearly a decade working for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served in a multitude of professional capacities, which includes the positions of Senior Research Analyst for the House Democratic Caucus' Legislative Policy & research Office (LPRO) and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. Following his tenure with the House of Representatives, Brandon went on to serve as Legislative Director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU-PA) State Council, and subsequently served as Policy & Reporting Specialist for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services' Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities (BDISBO). In February of 2022, former Secretary Flood founded The Lazarus Firm, LLC, which is a reentry-based company that provides administrative support to prospective applicants for expungement and executive clemency, provides general consultation to county prisons, and dispenses with guidance to Pennsylvania-based employers that are interested in developing reentrant-friendly employment screening policies.

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