Equal Justice Initiative

Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of EJI, has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system. Since graduating from Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government, he has assisted in securing relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, advocated for poor people and developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice. He also is on the law faculty at New York University School of Law.

Eva Ansley, Operations Director, has coordinated and developed legal services for poor people and death row prisoners in Alabama for almost 20 years. She has been instrumental in developing institutional assistance to indigent defendants at the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center and the Equal Justice Initiative since the inception of both organizations.

Randy Susskind, Deputy Director, has been with EJI since graduating from Georgetown University Law Center in 1994. He also serves as adjunct faculty in the Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic at the New York University School of Law. He previously worked as a staff attorney at the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center.

Sheila Hubbard, Senior Program Director, recently was associate director of the public interest advising office at Harvard Law School. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and has spent over 20 years - including seven years as Chair of the Massachusetts Parole Board - working on issues such as education reform, civil rights, minority and women business development, housing, employment, and criminal justice matters.

Jacqueline Jones-Peace, Senior Attorney, was on the faculty at New York University School of Law as Co-Associate Director of the Lawyering Program. Prior to that, she was a Litigation Associate at Cleary Gottlieb in New York for several years after clerking for U.S. District Judge John S. Martin in the Southern District of New York. She is a 1995 graduate of New York University School of Law.

Angie Setzer, Senior Attorney, interned with EJI in the fall of 1998 and joined the staff after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1999. She currently manages some of EJI's training programs and has challenged capital convictions and death sentences across Alabama.

Aaryn Urell, Senior Attorney, has been with EJI since she graduated from New York University School of Law in 2001. She has a Masters Degree in International Relations from American University and has worked on human rights and conflict resolution in Ghana and South Africa.

Brandon Buskey, Staff Attorney, is a 2006 graduate of New York University School of Law. Prior to joining EJI, he clerked for Judge Janet C. Hall of the United States District Court of Connecticut. He received a B.A. degree from North Carolina State University in 2002.

Kristen Nelson, Staff Attorney, is a 2004 graduate of Harvard Law School. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson and was a staff attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia prior to joining EJI. She has a M. Phil degree in Criminology from Cambridge University and a B.A. degree from Wellesley College in English with a minor in Religion.

Catherine Coleman-Flowers, Rural Development Manager, is a native of Lowndes County, Alabama. She taught high school in Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, D.C. before returning home to advocate for poor people in Alabama's Black Belt. She is the founder and director of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise and joined EJI in summer 2008 as part of EJI's Race and Poverty initiative.

Maria Morrison, Social Worker, has worked with children, adults, and families in the social services field for over ten years, most recently at a residential treatment program for emotionally troubled children. She has an M.S.W. from the University of Alabama, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Goddard College, and a B.A. in English from the University of Montana.

Luanne Muller, Deputy Project Manager, worked as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York, defending indigent people accused of crime, after graduating from New York University School of Law in 2005. She previously was a communications manager for professional basketball teams after graduating from Arizona State in 1998.

Heather Barrow, Paralegal, joined EJI in 2008 after working for several years as a mitigation specialist on Alabama capital cases. She has a B.A. in history and criminal justice from Alabama State University and previously interned at EJI.

Anthony Collins, Paralegal, joined the EJI staff in 2007, after graduating from Duke University where he earned a B.A. degree in Economics and Environmental Science and Policy.

Bonnie Ernst, Paralegal, joined the EJI staff in 2007. She has a B.A. degree in History that she earned from the Universtiy of Chicago in May 2007.

Alesha Judkins, Paralegal, joined EJI's staff in 2008 after teaching French at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery, Alabama. She graduated from Hollins University, where she earned a B.A. in international studies and French.

Evan Milligan, Paralegal, joined the EJI staff in 2008. He worked as a community organizer in Montgomery, Alabama, for FOCAL, the Federation of Child Care Centers of America, prior to joining EJI. He has a B.A. degree in religion from Birmingham-Southern College and is working towards a Masters of Education from Alabama State University.

Diane Keating, Development Director, joined the EJI staff in 2007 to oversee institutional development and support. She has an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a graduate degree in Comparative Literature from New York University. In addition to her non-profit work in development and capacity building, she has also worked in the film industry.

Lee Eaton, Staff Assistant, has 20 years experience providing administrative and executive support in both for-profit and non-profit settings. She has worked with the American Red Cross in New York and with the Hibernia Bank in California. She graduated from Wells College and has been on the staff at EJI since 2001.

Lathosia Lumpkin, Administrative Assistant, has a Bachelor's degree in Human Resources from from DeVry University, and an Associate degree in Liberal Arts from Faulkner University. She has years of administrative experience in health care services.

Jerline Thompson, Staff Assistant, has been with EJI since 2001. She has a B.A. in Business Management from Troy University, and has years of support experience, primarily in medical and financial settings, with a concentration in communications and customer relations.

Ramona Thornton, Staff Assistant, graduated from Huntingdon College in 1991, with a B.A. in Art. She brings a wealth of administrative and operations assistance experience to EJI.

Catherine Williams, Staff Assistant, is a 2005 graduate of Auburn University-Montgomery, where she received an M.A. in Judicial Administration and an ABA-approved paralegal certificate. She received a B.A. in English from Spelman College in 1999.

Samson Asiyanbi, Fellow, received a J.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2008, where he participated in the death penalty clinic. He has a B.A. degree in economics and government from the University of Texas at Austin. He has interned with the Rhode Island public defender's office and taught high school in Austin, Texas.

Sophia Bernhardt, Fellow, is a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholar and 2008 graduate of New York University School of Law. She has a B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and has worked as a community organizer on behalf of tenants in the Bronx and as an investigator for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Tricia Bushnell, Fellow, received a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 2007, where she co-chaired the Latino Law Students Association and received the Vanderbilt Medal for service to NYU. She has a B.A. in political science and German from Bucknell University. She worked with EJI in Alabama in 2007 as a clinical student.

Eddie Koen, Fellow, earned a J.D. degree from Cumberland School of Law and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2008. He has a B.S. in marketing from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. From 2007-2008, he was the National Chair of the National Black Law Students Association and a law clerk at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Benjamin Maxymuk, Fellow, is a 2006 graduate of Harvard Law School, where he co-founded a student organization to promote awareness of needed reforms in the criminal justice system. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak in Pennsylvania and for Judge Richard A. Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit prior to joining EJI. He earned a B.A. in English from Duke University in 1995.

Sia Sanneh, Fellow, received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2007. She has a Master’s degree in teaching of social studies from Columbia University Teachers College and earned a B.A. in history from Columbia University in 2001. After graduating law school, she was a Liman Public Interest Fellow at Legal Action Center in New York, where she studied the collateral consequences of school-based arrests.

Meagan Sway, Fellow, earned a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 2008. She has a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College. She has worked on child immigration reform legislation as an intern for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. She worked with EJI in Alabama in 2007 as a clinical student.

Sophie Walker, Fellow, earned an L.L.M from New York University School of Law in 2007. Prior to joining EJI, she worked in International Gender Rights at the Global Justice Center in New York. Sophie received a B.A. degree from Oxford University in the U.K.

LaJuana Davis, Cooperating Attorney, worked as a staff attorney with EJI for several years after directing legal assistance for death row prisoners at the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center. She has successfully represented death row prisoners in state and federal litigation since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1990.

Cathleen Price, Cooperating Attorney, is a 1996 graduate of Harvard Law School and a former law clerk of Justice Fred Banks on the Mississippi Supreme Court. She is a 1999 National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL) Equal Justice Fellow and has coordinated complex litigation at EJI for several years.