Big Moves, New Faces: PJI’s Summer & Fall Highlights

It’s been a jam-packed few months at PJI, filled with new opportunities, exciting milestones, and a lot of impactful work! We’ve welcomed new team members, strengthened existing partnerships, and engaged in meaningful discussions and events that are advancing our mission. From team retreats to advocacy efforts and everything in between, we’ve been busy driving change and making progress. We’re excited to share the highlights of these past months with you!

Our Newest Rockstars

We are thrilled to welcome Raeshann (Rae) Canady as our Project Director, Local Change Work, and Ekeythia (Kiki) Dunston as a Project Consultant, Local Change Work. Rae and Kiki bring an amazing breadth of experience to PJI. Rae’s experience includes work as a legal aid attorney, public defender, non-profit leader, and pretrial services administrator. Kiki has managed reentry and transitional planning for returning citizens, and was recently part of the Sing Sing Film Festival. Rae, Kiki and Guisela recently traveled to Boston for our project on Willful Flight, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

An in-person get-together

Our new team met up in Washington, D.C. on November 12 for a team retreat, bringing together new and long-standing employees of PJI. Many thanks to our Operations and Human Resources Manager, Tiffany Solomon, for creating a retreat with heart, connection and vision.

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop💪

In August, Kevin Beckford, our Senior Associate of Partnerships and Engagement, represented PJI at the KAIROS Convening for the Culture 2024 in Martha’s Vineyard, a powerful gathering of activists, strategists, and disruptors working toward equity-driven change.

Then Kevin helped create Charting a Public Health Approach to Safety & Justice in Washington, D.C. during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference (CBCALC). The event highlighted community-centered safety strategies that prioritize harm reduction and well-being and featured Congresswoman Cori Bush.

Shortly after that, Kevin joined advocates nationwide for the Clean Slate Initiative's advocacy day on Capitol Hill, championing second chances and criminal justice reform.

Wait, there's more!

We ended the year with two fabulous funder’s showcases in D.C. and New York to highlight our work to raise racial equity in pretrial as well as the critical work of partners. Our DC event included PJI Board Member Kayla Vinson of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Futures Institute, Zealous and Harriet’s Wildest Dream. At our New York event - held just last week - we were delighted to be in community with so many amazing groups, including The Bronx Defenders, Freedom Agenda, Good Call, The Center for Justice at Columbia University, Releasing Aging People in Prison Campaign (RAPP) and the Women’s Community Justice Association.