Allison Flom is a writer, director, and advocate for the humane treatment of people in detention and post-release support for the wrongfully convicted. Allison has worked with JDI since 2017, facilitating art workshops in several New York prisons. Allison’s work across several media investigates identity, justice, and little-known historical events. Her short films and music videos have earned recognition at festivals internationally, and her original true-crime history podcast will premiere in 2023. Allison studied storytelling for social change at NYU Gallatin. She also performs improv comedy, works with high school students on college prep, and is a licensed tour and sightseeing guide in New York City.

Dawn Davison, MS, was the first prison official to join JDI’s Board. As former Warden of the California Institution for Women, she placed herself within the vanguard of reform-minded corrections managers by allowing JDI and the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center to bring counselors into the prison to speak confidentially with sexual abuse survivors. As Warden, she instituted many rehabilitative programs and worked with volunteer groups, emphasizing education, life and workplace skills, the maintenance of family and community relationships, successful reintegration into society, and breaking the intergenerational cycle of incarceration. Since her retirement in 2009, Dawn has remained an active consultant and activist for incarcerated people’s rights, through her work with JDI and the USC Gould School of Law Post-Conviction Justice Project. She is a member of two other non-profit boards.

Jonas Caballero is a JDI Survivor Council member and a former US-UK Fulbright Scholar who obtained a Master of Philosophy in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Cambridge. After enduring repeated incidents of sexual abuse by correction officers in New York, Jonas took an interest in prison law, and has been victorious in numerous pro se prisoners’ rights actions. He is currently the lead plaintiff in a federal class action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Corrections, which summarily denied incarcerated individuals with mental health disabilities the right to participate in early release programs—a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. After his release from prison, Jonas worked as a legal advocate at the Abolitionist Law Center, a Pennsylvania-based public interest law firm committed to ending mass incarceration. He is currently pursuing a law degree from Albany Law School.

Kathy Dennehy has worked in a wide range of custody settings, including as a warden. In 2004, she was appointed Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction — the first woman to hold this position. Dr. Dennehy was also a Senior Program Specialist at the PREA Resource Center and has worked with the Vera Institute of Justice to support the work of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and the development of the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. Most recently, she served as an independent federal court monitor of a Department of Justice (DOJ) settlement agreement resulting from DOJ’s investigation into the sexual abuse and sexual harassment of women held in custody. She also serves as an expert witness for survivors of sexual abuse in detention.

Hector Villagra, JD, has been Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) since February 2011. He launched the Orange County Office of the ACLU SoCal in September 2005 and served as its Director until October 2009, when he became Legal Director for the ACLU SoCal. Before joining the ACLU, he served as Regional Counsel for the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) from 2001 to 2005 and as a staff attorney at MALDEF from 1999 to 2001. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Columbia University and a JD from Columbia Law School. After law school, he clerked for Chief Justice Robert Wilentz of the New Jersey Supreme Court and Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Hector currently serves on the boards of Just Detention International and the California Immigrant Policy Center.

Hussein Khalifa is a founding partner at MVision, a private equity advisory firm based in New York, London, and Hong Kong. Previously, he served as the founding director and chief executive of Archstone Capital. Hussein is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and is on the Advisory Boards of the RAND Corporation’s Centre for Global Risk and Security, NOOR Theatre, and the Middlebury Museum & Visual Arts Council. Hussein graduated with honors from Middlebury College and is a Georgetown Leadership Seminar alumnus. He is proficient in French, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), and Spanish.

John W. Johnson is a Chief at the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department and is the Immediate Past President of the American Jail Association. A 22-year corrections veteran, he worked at MDCR as a Correctional Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain prior to becoming a Chief. Additionally, he has served as a consultant for the National Institute of Justice and the National Institute of Corrections. He is also a candidate for a Doctor of Philosophy that focuses on Public-Safety Leadership.

Kate Summers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She worked for many years at a Los Angeles County outpatient mental health clinic, and later did mental health assessments in the county’s jails for the ACLU. For several years she has served as a Buddhist chaplain in the county’s women’s jail, and is a long-time member of the ACLU of Southern California’s Foundation Board.

Linda McFarlane, MSW, LCSW, is the Executive Director and Board Secretary of JDI. Linda manages all of JDI’s work, in the U.S. and internationally, and serves as the organization’s primary spokesperson. A licensed social worker, Linda has more than 30 years of experience working with survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. Previously, Linda served as JDI’s Deputy Executive Director. In that role, she trained corrections officials, medical and mental health practitioners, and direct service providers in preventing and responding to sexual violence behind bars. She also worked with corrections agencies on implementing programs to make their facilities safer. Before joining JDI in 2005, Linda worked in community rape crisis programs, foster care, and with adults with mental illness. She also worked as a staff member, unit supervisor, and therapist in a detention facility for girls with mental illness.

Martin Leyva is the Program Coordinator for Project Rebound at California State University-San Marcos. He is a current student in the Joint Doctoral Program at UCSD/CSUSM in Education and holds an MA in Sociological Practice, a BA in Liberal Arts/Psychology from Antioch University, and is CAADE Certified Drug and Alcohol Treatment Counselor. Martin has a strong passion for social justice and human rights issues.  He has spoken and shared at multiple venues, including universities throughout California and the American Society of Criminology. He has led trainings on best practices for working with formerly incarcerated individuals, emotional intelligence, and spiritual self care. He is well known for his abilities with gang intervention/prevention and mediation skills and for helping those with drug and alcohol issues.

Mateo de la Torre is a transgender Latino from Tijuana, Mexico, and currently serves as the International Programs Manager at the LGBTQ Victory Institute. His work has focused on addressing the criminalization of transgender people of color and those with low-to-no income including organizing around sex workers’ rights, policing, and conditions of confinement in prisons and detention centers. Mateo has most recently served as Director of Policy and Advocacy at a national prison abolitionist organization, Black and Pink, where he managed the National LGBTQ/HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, and as Racial and Economic Justice Policy Advocate at the National Center for Transgender Equality. Throughout his advocacy he has organized national lobby days, published reports on the interactions of transgender and gender nonconforming people with law enforcement, co-drafted the first federal bill focused on the health and safety of sex workers, and headed up Latinx outreach and engagement for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration. Mateo earned a degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies from California State University, Chico.

Robin Downs Colbert is Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Addiction Professionals of North Carolina (APNC), a membership organization that drives high standards in professional development, innovative addiction programs, and advocates for better health policy.  APNC advocates for policies to ensure equitable access to prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm-reduction services and promote a greater understanding of addiction issues. Prior to joining APNC, Robin served as Associate Director of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault, where her duties included running programs to support incarcerated survivors.  She is also the former Chair and Treasurer of the North Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking and is a consultant for the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center. In addition, Robin serves as the Victim Advocate North Carolina Judicial Branch appointee to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, a state agency that investigates and evaluates post-conviction claims of factual innocence.

Stephanie Walker is a prisoners’ rights advocate and the founder of #Iamnolongersilent, which aims to promote survivor voices. While incarcerated at a prison in Georgia, Stephanie was sexually assaulted repeatedly by a corrections officer. Upon her release, Stephanie reported her attacker and participated in his prosecution, which led to his conviction. A member of JDI’s Survivor Council, Stephanie has shared her story with the press and advocates. She also helped spearhead a recent successful legislative effort to lengthen the statute of limitations for sexual assault in Georgia.

Thomas Yellow Boy is the Program Specialist/PREA Coordinator for the Wanbli Wiconi Tipi Juvenile Detention Center (WWT) for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Thomas graduated from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Basic Correctional Officer Training Program in 2013. In 2015, he completed the FLETC Law Enforcement Supervisor Leadership Training. After beginning his career in corrections working with adults, Thomas has spent the last eight years working with juveniles in the WWT Programs Department. In this role, Thomas works closely with White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society, the first Indigenous domestic violence and sexual assault organization, to provide support services to youth in detention. He has trained corrections staff, school district staff, and WWT volunteers about sexual abuse prevention, and facilitates education sessions for youth about their safety. Thomas is a member of their Restoring Dignity Leadership Council, a project funded by the Office on Violence Against Women.