Rev. Alexis Anderson is an ordained servant teacher, minister and the founder and Executive Director of PREACH. Rev. Anderson serves on the Louisiana Mental Health Advisory Board, the Committee to Support Healthcare Equity, the 19th JDC Domestic Violence Specialty Court Planning Workgroup, the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana Board and is the Life Skills Chair of the Capital Area LA-PRI IST Committee. She is a member of the Prison Subcommittee of the Louisiana Stop Solitary Coalition. Rev. Alexis Anderson is a proud member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition.

Matt Bailey is the Director of Administration and Development at The Promise of Justice Initiative where he manages administration, development, and communications. Before joining PJI, Matt served as innovation and engagement officer on a suicide prevention initiative with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and worked as a strategic communication consultant. His career includes policy and leadership roles in government, higher education, and nonprofit leadership development and advocacy. Matt also served six years in the Army National Guard, co-founded New Leaders Council-Louisiana and Fair Districts Louisiana, and was part of the 2014 cohort of Leadership Louisiana (CABL). A native of Jena and first-generation college graduate, Matt has a J.D. from George Washington University and a B.A. from Northwestern State University.

Samantha (Sammy) Bosalavage is a Staff Attorney at PJI. Samantha received her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She initially came to work at PJI as an Avodah Jewish Service Corps Member and then remained on the team as a paralegal and outreach coordinator for three years before leaving to attend law school. She received her B.A. from Tulane University in Sociology and Social Policy & Practice. During law school, she was a student advocate with the Office of the Appellate Defender through NYU’s Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic and with the Brooklyn Defender Services through NYU’s Criminal Defense and Reentry Clinic, as well as a volunteer with the Parole Preparation Project. Over the summers, she interned at the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project and the Southern Center for Human Rights. She served on the board of the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change as an Executive Editor.

Michael Cahoon is a Co-Lead Organizer and Policy Advocate working on PJI’s LA Repeal Project and East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Project. Before coming to PJI in 2018, Michael was a lead organizer with SEIU Local 509, a 20,000 member union of social workers, human service providers, and educators, where he also served as president for an independent union of SEIU organizers and support staff. Before organizing, he worked in policy research and development for New Jersey After 3, a nonprofit providing after school programming, evaluation, and policy consultation. He has a BA in English and Social Science from Bennington College in Vermont.

Claude-Michael Comeau is a Staff Attorney for the Unanimous Jury Project. Claude-Michael graduated from LSU Law in 2013. Before joining PJI, Claude-Michael was a Managing Attorney at Refugee Services of Texas in Dallas, Texas, where he helped reunite refugees with their loved ones after fleeing persecution. Claude-Michael has also spent time as a contract attorney for the Caddo Public Defenders. Claude-Michael is excited to be back in his home state helping to shape a more equitable Louisiana.

My name is Brittany Dantzler and I am the Finance Manager for PJI. In 2012, I graduated from Dillard University with a B.A in Business Management. Shortly after graduation, I had the privilege of being an Assistant Store Manager of various retail stores. In 2014, I shifted gears and entered into the banking industry where I truly fell in love with finance. During my eight years of banking, I have worked on the retail level as a banker, as well as, in middle market/corporate banking where I assisted my team in maintaining our multi-million dollar portfolio completing administrative task for our clients.

In 2018, I became I licensed life coach and one of my specialties is geared towards personal finance. In the midst of the pandemic, I self-published my first journal to help assist individuals on their own life journey.

When I am not working and creating content, I enjoy spending quality time with my son and my amazing husband.

Sara Gozalo is a Storyteller at PJI. With a PhD in immunology from UMass, Sara co-founded Students for Peace and Justice. She was also a member of the Worcester Global Action Network. In 2016, Sara was the Supervising Coordinator of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City until she moved to New Orleans. Sara is originally from Madrid, Spain. She is a queer immigrant who believes in a world without borders and without jails, where everyone has the right to live in dignity.

Myisha Growe is a Front Desk Manager at PJI. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Psychology from Southern University at New Orleans. Committed to making a change and championing equality for all, Myisha structured her education around criminal justice to better respond to community injustices. She now attends LSU to obtain her Master’s degree in Business Administration. She dedicates her spare time advocating for victims and survivors of human trafficking throughout Louisiana.

Samantha Kennedy is the Executive Director of PJI. She has lived in New Orleans for almost two decades. Samantha is an attorney, mitigation specialist, and a racial justice and human rights advocate committed to fighting for the rights and dignity of people impacted by the incarceration system and other oppressive governmental actions.

A proven leader with expertise in capital defense, litigation strategy, and complex narrative construction, Samantha has focused her efforts on the death penalty and international conflict. As a thought leader, she collaborates nationwide with capital defenders on policy and practice and has been faculty at dozens of trainings and intensive educational programs all over the world.

Isabel Naquin is the Communications and Development Specialist at PJI. Before joining the team, she was the Social Media Student Assistant at Portland State University’s Office of Research of Graduate Studies. In the past, she has interned in communications for Southeastern Louisiana University and Ascension Public Schools. Isabel graduated in 2021, from Southeastern Louisiana University with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in History. A Louisiana native, she is dedicated to using communications and storytelling to advance human rights and civil liberties. These are ideals she has championed over the years in her promotion, online, of young adult and adult literature.

Erica Navalance is PJI’s Associate Director of Strategic Criminal Litigation. She has worked with both The Capital Appeals Project and PJI since 2015, but joined PJI full time in 2021 as a senior staff attorney for the Strategic Defense Litigation project, focusing on combatting excessive sentences, capital punishment, and other injustices in the criminal system. In addition to direct representation, Erica was a part of the Lewis v. Cain and Ramos v. Louisiana litigation teams, co-authored a report shedding light on the terrible conditions of confinement in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, and has taught courses on incarceration and the death penalty at Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law. Erica earned her BA from Brandeis University, served as an Americorps member for two years in Boston, and then received her JD from Wake Forest School of Law.

Colin Reingold is the Litigation Director at PJI. Before joining PJI Colin was the Litigation Director and Senior Counsel at the Orleans Public Defenders (OPD), where he supervised the Special Litigation Division and also handled direct representation trial cases. He oversaw OPD’s appellate and systemic litigation and argued numerous times in front of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court. Prior to OPD, Colin clerked for the Hon. Ginger Berrigan of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. Before law school he was an English teacher at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. Colin has a J.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Yale University.

Natalie Sharp is an investigator for the Strategic Criminal Litigation project. She also works with PJI's policy and advocacy team as an organizer with the Louisiana Survivors for Reform coalition. Before coming to PJI, Natalie worked with the Welcoming Project/Travis Hill School and served as Coordinator for New Orleans Voices for Accountability and Safety (NOVAS), a coalition holding stakeholders in the New Orleans criminal legal system accountable to community voices. She also served as an investigation intern with the Orleans Public Defenders. Natalie received her BA in Political Science and English from Tulane University.

Deidre Thomas is a paralegal at the Promise of Justice Initiative. She is the first formerly incarcerated woman to work at PJI. During her time at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, Deidre became a self-taught Offender Council Sub /Jailhouse Lawyer, giving 25.5 years of service. Deidre, along with other women serving life sentences who served as her role models, sought to understand and challenge incarcerated women’s convictions, sentences, and conditions of confinement. Through that process, she obtained her bachelor’s degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Seminary with minors in Biblical and Women’s Ministry.

As part of encouraging her son to complete school, Deidre promised to remain in school until her son graduated from high school. To fulfill the pact she made with her son, Deidre obtained a Blackstone Paralegal Certificate and a Wolf Creek Business Growth Institute Certificate. Despite her son having completed high school, Deidre continues to pursue an additional degree in Social Science from Newcomb College at Tulane University.

Amber Thorpe is an office manager and paralegal. Originally from Los Angeles, Amber moved to New Orleans to attend college at Tulane University and they graduated in 2018 with a dual degree in anthropology and political science, with a minor in Africana studies. Before working at the 1024 Building, they worked at Tulane University's Center for Public Service coordinating service-learning courses and facilitating conversations about equity and oppression on Tulane's campus.

Hardell Ward received a B.A. from Morehouse College in 2005 and his J.D. with a certificate in Sports Law from the Tulane University School of Law in 2008. During his time at TLS, he served on the Moot Court Board and as a student-practitioner for the Domestic Violence Clinic. After initially working commercial litigation, he returned to public interest work as Staff Attorney in the Housing Unit at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services in 2009. In addition to his work in housing, he lead SLLS's Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program helping justice‐involved youths return home to their communities. In 2017, he was named an Access to Justice Hero. He joined PJI in January '20 where he is serving as the Director of Community Impact.

Lydia Wright is the Associate Director of Civil Litigation at PJI. She has significant experience litigating class and mass actions in state and federal courts across the country. Lydia was a fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center and an associate at a boutique complex civil litigation firm in New Orleans. She clerked for the Hon. Nannette Jolivette Brown in the Eastern District of Louisiana and served as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before law school, Lydia taught middle school English in New Mexico and studied Arabic in Jordan as a Fulbright fellow. She has a J.D. from Berkeley Law and a B.A. from the University of Washington. Lydia is licensed in Louisiana, Mississippi and Washington.