We have added six new members to our board, bringing our total number of board members to 23.
Barbara Flynn Currie
Barbara retired from the Illinois General Assembly this year after representing the 25th District, which includes portions of the Chicago communities of Woodlawn, South Shore, Hyde Park, Kenwood, and South Chicago, for 40 years. She was the primary champion of HB531, the youthful parole bill, which was her last piece of legislation to become law in Illinois.
Susanne Dumbleton
Susanne is a Professor and Dean Emeritus at Loyola University, having earned a BA, MA and PhD in English from the State University of New York at Albany. Her research interests are in the area of social justice; she is writing a book about women change agents that highlights Sister Helen Prejean.
Garien Gatewood
Garien Gatewood is the new Program Director at the Illinois Justice Project. Previously, he was director of policy advocacy at the Juvenile Justice Initiative, where his work focused on legislation and policy reform for youth in Illinois. Garien also worked as a youth reentry advocate for the Children’s Law Center in Ohio.
Presita West
Presita has been a Cook County Public Defender for more than 15 years. Before that, she was at First Defense Legal Aid where she educated Englewood residents on their rights when engaging with police officers and represented individuals detained in police custody.
Fred Weatherspoon
Fred Weatherspoon is a criminal justice advocate and a case manager / “interrupter” at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation. He was sentenced to natural life in 1993 at the age of 17, but following the Miller decision, he was re-sentenced in 2017 to 25 years (actual time served) and was subsequently released.
Angel Ysaguirre
Angel Ysaguirre is executive director of the Court Theater, having recently stepped down as executive director of Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) since 2014. Previously, he was Deputy Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, where he managed the city’s public art program, creative industries offices, and arts programming.