Individuals once connected to Democratic politicians former President Barak Obama, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are now working with the REFORM Alliance. There were also new recruits from the corporate, philanthropic, digital, and communications sectors.
Janet Choi was named Chief Content and Communications Officer. She previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment as well as the General Manager of NYC Media. Choi will now oversee content development and distribution, digital and social, press and media, internal communications, and work with the REFORM’s Advocacy and Growth teams.
Adia Smith Parker, who worked on both Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and served as the West Coast Director of Investment for Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, is taking the position of Senior Director, Development for the REFORM Alliance. The well-connected political fundraiser is said to be taking on an integral role in mobilizing financial resources for the organization and fostering relationships with philanthropists.
In the last presidential election, 2.5% of the voting age population couldn’t vote because of a felony conviction. Fortunately, several states have since restored voting rights to hundreds of thousands of people 👏
RT if you agree EVERYONE deserves to have a voice! pic.twitter.com/j3WWj7Yof3
— REFORM Alliance (@REFORM) October 5, 2020
Other new additions to REFORM’s executive leadership team over the last six months include Meagan Bond (Senior Director, Creative Campaigns), Geoff Holtzman (Director of Communications), Britton Smith (Senior Organizing Strategist), Colleen Donnelly (Director of Digital), Jasmine Wadsworth (Advocacy Chief of Staff), and Yesenia Valdez (Special Assistant to the President and Chief Growth Officer).
REFORM Alliance already included Hip Hop artist Meek Mill (Co-Chair), Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin (Co-Chair), Roc Nation founder Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter (Founding Partner), New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (Founding Partner), Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert Smith (Founding Partner), Third Point CEO Daniel S. Loeb (Founding Partner), Galaxy Digital CEO Michael E. Novogratz (Founding Partner), Brooklyn Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai (Founding Partner), Arnold Ventures Co-Chair Laura Arnold (Founding Partner), and CNN commentator Van Jones (CEO).
Racial biases in our supervision system hold millions of Black Americans from success. This isn’t right, and this isn’t fair.
We need to reform the system so we can ensure justice for all! pic.twitter.com/4MVCVsWum1
— REFORM Alliance (@REFORM) October 6, 2020
“As CEO, my most important job is building up REFORM’s greatest asset – our team,” said Van Jones. “We are building a group of leaders that brings valuable experience, perspectives, and insights from across sectors. The diverse skill set and background of these individuals will be critical to our organization as we continue to ‘fight different’ to bring meaningful change to the criminal justice system.”
The announcement of these key leadership hires for the REFORM Alliance comes on the heels of a major legislative victory in California. The organization was instrumental in getting the AB 1950 legislation passed into law. Sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, AB 1950 caps probation terms to a maximum of one year for misdemeanor offenses and two years for felonies in the state.
There are too many Latinx people stuck in the justice system.
This #HispanicHeritageMonth, we’re committed to fighting all the racial biases and injustices against the Latinx community in our justice system to ensure equality for all 👊 pic.twitter.com/xQiqtYU2vn
— REFORM Alliance (@REFORM) October 8, 2020