Katayoon has worked as a direct service and civil rights litigator, policy advocate, technical assistance provider, and grantmaker, with a focus on a range of racial justice issues. Most recently, she was the Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at Borealis Philanthropy, overseeing a team managing two donor collaboratives that support BIPOC-led grassroots organizing groups to transform policing and pretrial justice in the criminal legal system. Previously, she served as Program Director for Youth Justice at the Public Welfare Foundation, where for nine years she directed grantmaking to keep youth out of the adult criminal justice system, dismantle the youth prison model, and advance a racially just, community-based vision of youth justice.

Before working in philanthropy, Katayoon held attorney positions at the National Juvenile Defender Center, the DC-based Children’s Law Center, and the ACLU of Northern California. In addition, Katayoon has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Howard University School of Law and American University’s Washington College of Law. In the Fall of 2021, she launched a consulting practice focused on supporting foundations and nonprofits in their work to advance social and racial justice.

Zaira is our Senior Program Associate after previously serving as Program Associate and Administrative Assistant. She provides programmatic and administrative support to the team and our partners.

Prior to working at the Andrus Family Fund, Zaira worked for Technical Traffic Consultants on auditing, generating reports, data analysis and coordinating new client account set-ups. She always longed to return to work that was more rewarding and fulfilling and found her fit in philanthropy.

Jenny is Co-Executive Director of Chicago-based Communities United (CU), a racial justice organization which brings together young people and adult allies to advance social change and systems transformation. Jenny has 18 years of organizing experience, supporting young people and adult allies in creating the nation’s most comprehensive statewide school discipline reform, advancing strategies through an invest/divest framework to shift resources from police in schools and incarceration into school and community supports, and more. Jenny is a graduate of Princeton University, serves as a Field Advisor to Funders for Justice, and is a former field representative on the Board of Advisors for the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing. 

Kisha is CLASP’s director of youth policy. In this role, she leads a team of experts focused on economic justice, criminal justice reform and mental health policy. The team’s core areas include racial equity, adult and postsecondary education, workforce development, and reentry and reintegration pathways. The team drives the organization’s policy agenda on boys and young men of color and girls and young women of color while also focusing on young adult mental health and two-generation policies and strategies to support young, low-income parents of color. 

Before joining CLASP, Kisha was director of the Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network where she led a statewide coalition of policymakers, advocates, and practitioners to advance cross-agency afterschool, workforce, and education policies and investments. She was also a program officer at the Philadelphia Foundation, where she helped develop and manage the Fund for Children Youth Advisory Board, and the foundation’s discretionary grants process. Ms. Bird gained direct service experience by working in various community settings with children, youth and families. She holds Master’s degrees in Social Service and Law and Social Policy from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. Additionally, she earned a Bachelor’s in sociology from Spelman College. 

Jaime is Co-Director of the Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF), a national donor collaborative that brings together the resources of philanthropy with the power of grassroots organizing to ensure that all schools welcome students and nurture their full potential. A self-identified policy wonk, Jaime is also a steadfast believer in the fundamental importance of centering organizers’ expertise as we journey towards justice and the schools children deserve.

Charles is a Chicago based multi-disciplinary artist, activist and Black liberationist. He is currently the Resource Coordinator for the Movement for Black Lives. Charles has worked in communities across the United States with poor, disabled, young, LGBT, currently/formerly active drug users and formerly homeless folks. He has worked in all realms of the social justice arena doing everything from direct service provision, lobbying, development, communications and direct action. Charles uses that background to inform both his artistic and movement work with a particular lens on Black, Queer, Feminist perspectives that naturally create space for growth rooted in true freedom. 

Susan Vivian Mangold joined Juvenile Law Center in October 2015 as its Chief Executive Officer. She is also a Professor Emeritus at University at Buffalo School of Law, where she taught for over 20 years and served as Vice Dean for Academics. Her teaching and scholarship focused on Children and the Law. Mangold was also Chair of the University-wide Strategic Strength in Civic Engagement and Public Policy and brings her expertise in community-based research to Juvenile Law Center.

She is co-editor of West Publishing’s casebook, Children and the Law: Doctrine, Policy and Practice (7th Edition, 2020). The author of numerous articles on the child welfare system, she was the primary investigator for a project funded by the Public Health Law Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the impact of different types of funding on long-term outcomes for children in foster care.

Juan is a co-founder of Fresh Tracks, a youth-led cross-cultural revolution, rooted in the healing power of the outdoors, as well as implementing the tribal and indigenous community of practice for the Opportunity Youth Forum. His work has helped to grow the silo-breaking strategy for systems change and youth power building while also lifting up successful stories of civic engagement and community organizing.

Juan has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and strategy implementation and was named a National Geographic Explorer in 2011 for his work to engage the rising generation of youth to the healing power of the outdoors. Juan is a proud product of South-Central Los Angeles. He also serves on The Wilderness Society’s governing council, is a TED Speaker, author, and is dedicated to bringing the power of equity and justice to life through youth and community-driven solutions. Juan has committed to help empower the next generation of leaders dedicated to addressing systems of inequity and access to opportunities by working with community leaders, non-profits and businesses across the country. Juan resides in Blanco, Texas with his wife, Vanessa.

Jessica is deeply committed to the liberation and freedom of cis and trans women and girls and gender non-conforming people. Jessica has spent much of her career working to develop and implement innovative programming and strategies based on the principles that those most impacted must be at the forefront of decision making about their own lives. Her own experience as a young person navigating the juvenile justice system, as a single mother dealing with poverty, homelessness, and intimate partner violence, coupled with her experience in the field, propels her work to advance the field and was recently named a 2019-2021 Leading Edge Fellow for her work. Prior to her current role, Jessica worked for several years as a Social Entrepreneur and as a consultant to organizations working with women and girls at the intersections of violence, poverty, racial justice, incarceration/ re-entry and workforce development. Jessica is a Bay Area native and currently lives in Oakland with her youngest sons.

Adilka is a Black Latinx Queer Organizer who was born in the Dominican Republic, immigrated to the U.S. in 1991 and grew up in Brooklyn. She has been involved in community organizing and advancing public policy in New York State for the last 18 years (as a youth leader at Make the Road and then as staff) around immigration, education reform, affordable housing and police violence. Adilka organizes with Black and Brown youth through political education sessions, Know Your Rights sessions, Cop Watch, leadership development and the Arts. 

Ninaj is a co-founder and community organizer at Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (HWHR) in New York. The organization was founded in 1992 in response to the needs of Haitian refugees, and immigrants in the U.S., fleeing persecution. Through education, community organizing, leadership development and collective action, she works with HWHR members to empower themselves as they struggle for social, economic and racial justice. Over the years, HWHR has conducted leadership and organizing trainings for adult literacy learners and developed brave, culturally-grounded healing spaces to engage in survivor informed practices to face trauma and daily challenges. Her current work with HWHR involves local organizing and advocacy efforts for refugees, undocumented immigrants and survivors of violence to build power and resistance as part of a larger liberation movement.

Liz is a campaign strategist, youth justice policy expert, and civil and human rights advocate on issues impacting children, youth and their families. Liz currently directs the Youth First initiative, a national campaign to end youth incarceration and invest in youth in their communities. She is responsible for overall strategy, management and resource development. Previously, she founded the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) and has worked at several national nonprofits, including the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, the Youth Law Center and the Children’s Defense Fund. She has held senior legislative and policy positions on Capitol Hill. Liz is an Adjunct Faculty member at The American University and holds a Master’s degree from The George Washington University and received her B.A. from Dickinson College.

Elizabeth, who represents award-winning youth media organization YR Media, is a passionate filmmaker and photographer living in Oakland, CA. She uses her skills to highlight people who are not commonly given a voice in the media and has shot, produced and directed dozens of short documentaries around the Bay Area as well as a series in Cuba. Liz started her path as a videographer when she was 14 years old and now, 8 years later, is about to graduate college with a film degree from San Francisco State University. She has produced docuseries and news segments for YR Media.

Don is the CEO of Just in Time for Foster Youth, a volunteer-driven nonprofit that provides transitioning foster youth, ages 18-26, with opportunities for self-sufficiency through emergency support, essential resources and caring personal guidance at critical junctures on their path to independence. During his career, he has been a teacher, editorial cartoonist, award winning writer, producer and animator, including a 1979 Peabody Award and thirteen local St. Louis Emmy awards. Wells was also a Senior Marketing Writer-Producer for Walt Disney World, a Supervising Producer at Paramount Television and Director of News and Creative Services for two television stations, including KGTV San Diego.