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The Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) is dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under 18 in the adult criminal justice system.
CAMPAIGN FOR YOUTH JUSTICE 202.558.3580
Liz Ryan
Eric Solomon
Neelum Arya
Roger Ghatt
Jessica A. Sandoval
Shantá Gray
Greg Johnson
Greg actively supports the Next Generation Leaders (Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington), the Musicianship, the Washington Area Tougaloo Alumni Council, and Alfred Street Baptist Church. He serves on the Board of Directors at Southern Echo, Inc. and Nollie Jenkins Family Center.
Leah Robertson
Pauline Cao
Michael Kemp
Michael Kemp was charged as an adult at the age of 17 in Washington, D.C. He now works at the Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop in Washington, D.C. as a Re-entry Coach.. In addition, he works at the Campaign for Youth Justice where he leads a video project to document stories from formally incarcerated youth, their parents and experts. These videos are a powerful tool to educate lawmakers and the public on the harm of prosecuting kids as adults. Michael has a passion for poetry and music. He is now 22 years old.
To read a recent op-ed in The Washington Post by Michael, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/a-double-life-is-nothing-but-trouble/2012/03/06/gIQATFT7uR_blog.html To hear a radio interview with Michael, visit http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jjmatters/2011/09/22/discussion-with-formerly-incarcerated-youth-michael-kemp
Angella Bellota State Field Organizer Angella Bellota work’s as the Campaign for Youth Justice’s State Field Organizer. Angella provides technical assistance to targeted state campaigns aiming to end the prosecution of children as adults. She is currently providing technical assistance to North Carolina’s Raise the Age Campaign, with a focus on grassroots mobilization, coalition building and public education. Prior to joining the Campaign, Angella worked at Action for Children North Carolina, a state level children’s policy and research organization. In her capacity at Action for Children, Angella led the Research and Data team with developing child well-being publications in order to educate and engage policy makers and the general public. Her expertise and experience lead the organization to prioritize issues affecting children of color, resulting in Action for Children’s first publication about children of immigrant families. She also lead community outreach efforts and assisted in developing and implementing state and local strategies to build public will for campaigns around juvenile justice, education and health in under-served communities. She graduated from California State University, San Bernardino, receiving a BA in Sociology with a minor in Ethnic Studies. She completed her master’s degree in Sociology from North Carolina State University, with a concentration in social inequality.
Tracy McClard Tracy McClard, a mother from Missouri, joined the Campaign for Youth Justice in the summer of 2010. She became a parent activist for juvenile justice reform when her 17 year old son committed suicide while incarcerated in an adult facility. Tracy recently resigned from her teaching job to focus on creating a powerful family-based juvenile justice organization in Missouri. She is currently organizing a national 5K run/walk to bring awareness to the public about the issue of prosecuting children as adults.
Mike McIntosh Mike McIntosh of Mississippi is one of the Co-Directors of the National Parent Caucus, along with Grace Warren of Illinois. Mike's strong spiritual beliefs have molded his desire to serve: he seeks to empower the community with future leaders and devotes his time to mentoring, tutoring and participating in community activities. His efforts in Mississippi have led to the creation of the Friends and Family of Youths Incarcerated at Walnut Grove, "The Voice of Our Children." Before taking on the role of Co-Director, Mike was an engaged member of the National Parent Caucus.
Grace Warren Grace is the Co-Director and a Family Organizer for the National Parent Caucus (NPC). In her leadership role with the NPC she provides timely advocacy and peer-to-peer support among its members. Grace's son was 17 years old when he was sent to the adult criminal justice system. She has been an advocate in Illinois since 2004.
Carrie Ann Blewitt Mike Casella Jacqueline Caster Eduardo Ferrer, JD Stephanie Chen Laura Hankins Tyrone Parker Tim Ryan Dr. Francisco Villarruel, PhD
There are no job opportunities at the Campaign right now.
Internship ProgramThe Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) is accepting applications for its internship program. We accept part-time and full-time interns during the fall and spring semesters (preferring students who can commit to an entire academic year), and full-time interns during the summer (at least an 8 week commitment). The Campaign is currently hiring for the Summer Youth Organizer position. Click here for a job description. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year. |
CFYJ is a member organization of the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC), a collaborative array of youth- and family- serving, social justice, law enforcement, corrections, and faith-based organizations, working to ensure healthy families, build strong communities and improve public safety by promoting fair and effective policies, practices and programs for youth involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. CFYJ staff serve on the Steering Committee of the coalition. The coalition meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 1:30 pm in Washington, DC and the meeting is open to the public.
CFYJ staff co-chair the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign of the NJJDP Coalition. The Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign is working to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). For more than three decades, the JJDPA has provided direction and support for juvenile justice system improvements and has significantly contributed to the reduction of juvenile crime and delinquency. The JJDPA sets out federal standards for the custody and care of youth in the juvenile justice system. For additional information, visit 
Liz has 20 years of advocacy campaign experience. Prior to starting the Campaign for Youth Justice, Ms. Ryan served for five years as the Advocacy Director for the Youth Law Center’s Building Blocks for Youth Initiative, a project to reduce the over-incarceration and disparate treatment of children of color in the juvenile justice system. Her work at the Youth Law Center involved campaign advocacy assistance at the national, state and local levels to stop punitive juvenile justice legislation, redirect funding to communities, and increase involvement of the constituencies that were most affected by juvenile justice decision-making. Ms. Ryan previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Thomas R. Carper during his terms as Delaware’s Governor and member of the US House of Representatives. She also served as a lobbyist for the Children’s Defense Fund, and is a former VISTA volunteer. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the Justice for DC Youth. Ms. Ryan holds a BA from Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) and an MA from The George Washington University (Washington, DC).
Eric is a communications veteran with more than 18 years of experience in the field. He develops and oversees all media and communications strategies for the Campaign, as well as provides technical assistance and training to state partners. Some of his major projects include the promotion of youth/parent success stories, federal juvenile justice legislation, the Join the Movement campaign, and pitching media on the problem of youth prosecuted as adults. Eric manages, produces, and co-hosts a weekly radio show on juvenile justice issues. Most recently, Eric was the recipient of the Golden Thinker Award from the North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS), for 191 placements of a juvenile justice TV story. He previously served as the Media Relations Manager at Nelnet and was a Media Relations Specialist at The George Washington University and an Editor/Producer at CNN in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ.
Neelum Arya is a lawyer with more than ten years of experience working on juvenile and criminal justice issues. As Research & Policy Director, she is the lead author of many of the publications developed at the Campaign, including the Race and Ethnicity policy brief series examining racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. In addition to providing strategic legal and policy advice to the Campaign’s federal and state efforts to change transfer laws, she is an expert in conditions of confinement for incarcerated children and has been leading efforts to ensure the Prison Rape Elimination Act prevents the sexual abuse of children in adult facilities. Neelum is a graduate of the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy at UCLA School of Law and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She is also currently an adjunct professor at Washington College of Law and at American University in Washington DC.
Roger has over 15 years of experience as a program coordinator and organizer. Before coming to the Campaign for Youth Justice, he worked as the program coordinator to the Senior Vice President for Product Development and the Senior Vice President for Human Resources at Blackboard Inc., the largest supplier of technology solutions for online education. Previously, Roger served as the Marketing & Outreach Coordinator for the National Catholic Education Association; a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit organization, where he coordinated a public education campaign on the benefits of Catholic school education. Since joining the Campaign for Youth Justice in 2005 Mr. Ghatt has directed the organization’s outreach efforts to national organizations, stakeholders and policy-makers. He is also in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Campaign. Roger holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from American University (Washington, DC), and a MA from St. Thomas Aquinas University (Rome, Italy).
Jessica A. Sandoval, MPA, serves as Director of National Field Operations at the Campaign. Prior to her role here, Ms. Sandoval served as the Program Associate at the National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. She has served as the Juvenile Justice Federal Policy Coordinator at the Center for Youth as Resources, a national youth development program, the Policy and Resource Development Specialist for the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, a national youth advocacy group, and Program Director for the Gang Rescue and Support Project, a Denver, Colorado organization targeting at-risk youth. In addition, she served as a volunteer advocate as a governor-appointed member of the Colorado Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Council for 10 years. Ms. Sandoval graduated with a Masters of Public Administration from University of Colorado at Denver. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services, with an emphasis in high-risk youth studies, from Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Shantá is currently employed as Program Coordinator for the National Parent Caucus. Ms. Gray began her career at the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a stay-in-school student, where she was responsible for the Freedom of Information database and website. She then was promoted to be the Administrative Assistant for the Director of Libraries, where she was responsible for coordinating and setting up high level conference calls, board and management meetings, and special events and travel arrangements for top executives. Ms. Gray was then employed by The Interfaith Alliance, which she was responsible for their Field Activism, Project Management, and Event Planning. Ms. Gray graduated from the Prince George’s Community College in 2002 with an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice, and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology at Bowie State University in 2004. 
Greg Johnson works as the Campaign’s Federal Field Organizer. He is responsible for advocacy, outreach, and events in targeted states with core constituencies, including youth and families who are directly affected by the justice system, youth groups, youth service providers, grassroots organizations and other advocacy groups. Greg currently serves as the co-chair of the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign, an effort launched to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). Prior to joining CFYJ, Greg worked as an organizer and training coordinator with Southern Echo, Inc., a community organizing, training, and technical assistance organization working to empower black, brown, and low-wealth communities. Greg has interned with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Advancement Project. He earned his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Tougaloo College.
Leah Robertson is a Communications Associate at the Campaign for Youth Justice. Leah manages electronic media, information dissemination and special projects. She supervises the facebook page, twitter account and monthly newsletter in addition to overseeing the production of special projects. She contributes to the design, production and dissemination of reports; helps to direct the production of National Youth Justice Awareness Month events; and administers the case profiles project that collects personal stories from youth and their families directly affected by the adult criminal justice system. She graduated in the winter of 2009 from Johns Hopkins University, where she majored in History and Latin American Studies. Prior to coming to the Campaign, she mentored students in the juvenile justice system in Baltimore City through the STAND! Mentorship Project and served as a Production Assistant and Researcher for a documentary on tolerance education.
Pauline Cao is an Administrative Assistant at the Campaign for Youth Justice. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine in spring of 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law and Society. Following graduation, Pauline was a fellow at the Campaign during the summer internship program where she assisted in administrative duties and event planning. Currently at the Campaign, Pauline handles administrative tasks to ensure that the office runs smoothly and efficiently. She also manages the prisoner correspondence and aides in the Join the Movement campaign. Pauline is also the head of the Campaign’s volunteer programs and services.
