The Inaugural One for Justice Summit.

Dinner and performance to welcome participants to New Orleans and get them acquainted with one another. 

3PM Onward \ Guest Arrival | Hotel Saint Vincent (HSV)
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6:30 PM - 7:00 PM  | Cocktail Reception & Live Performance | Evangeline Hall, HSV

Musical performance by New Orleans Flares, Jazz Foundation of America
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7:00 PM - 8:30 PM \ Dinner & Opening Program 

Welcome & Introduction | Billy Watterson, Executive Director, One for Justice 

Keynote Address | John bel Edwards, Former Governor of Louisiana

Introduction | Josie Duffy Rice

A Movement Birthed in Angola | Norris Henderson, Executive Director, Voice of the Experienced

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Members will engage in two moving and challenging site visits to a current and former slave plantation — one group will visit Louisiana State Prison (also known as Angola), the largest prison in the U.S., and the other will visit The Whitney Plantation, which centers those who were enslaved there and the connections to our modern justice system, and will meet with local organizers, advocates, and policy makers who have been driving reform in New Orleans. Both tracks will poignantly illuminate the ongoing legacy of slavery in the country’s system of mass incarceration, progress to date, and path’s forward in Louisiana. 

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Track 1: Angola Visit 

7:30 AM - 8:15 AM | Breakfast | Evangeline Hall, Hotel Saint Vincent  

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8:30 AM - 11:00 AM | Bus Ride to Angola Prison

Andrew Hundley, Executive Director of Louisiana Parole Project, will share context on Angola ahead of the visit Andrew was himself sentenced to Life Without Parole at age 15 and now leads an organization that has freed over 400 Lifer’s in Louisiana.

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11:00 AM - 2:00 PM | Guided Tour of Angola Prison

Members will visit key sites on this 28-mile former slave plantation and meet with current lifers incarcerated at Angola. We will eat lunch on the prison grounds, at a canteen run by incarcerated people. 

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2:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Meet with Formerly Incarcerated People 

As we exit Angola, members will have the chance to meet former Lifer’s freed as a result of successful reform efforts 

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Bus Ride Back to New Orleans 

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5:00 PM - 6:30 PM | Break 

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Track 2: Whitney & Local Organizers 

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM | Breakfast | Hotel Saint Vincent 

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9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Bus Ride to The  Whitney Plantation 

Norris Henderson, Executive Director, Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), will share context on the Whitney en route to the tour.

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10:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Guided Tour of Whitney Plantation 

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1:00 PM - 2:00 PM | Lunch 

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2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Bus Ride to New Orleans 

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3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | NOLA Reform efforts at VOTE

After touring the office and reentry house of VOTE, an important NOLA movement hub, we will engage in immersive afternoon discussions with leading movement leaders on progress and challenges in Louisiana.

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Building Power to Win | In the last 10 years, New Orleans has emerged as a hotbed for reform, reducing the jail and prison population in the state by 25%, and electing pro-reform candidates as DA and Sheriff. We’ll hear from the movement of formerly-incarcerated people who spearheaded this work, and pro-reform Orleans:

DA Jason Williams. 

Norris Henderson, VOTE

Ivy Mathis, VOTE 

Jason Williams, Orleans Parish District Attorney 

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Louisiana, What’s Next | New leadership in the state is bringing extreme challenges -  advocates are facing rollbacks to hard-fought legislation amid heightened discourse around public safety and crime. We’ll hear from experts in youth justice reform, narrative and state-level advocacy on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Sade Dumas, Borealis

Sarah Omojola, Vera NOLA

Scott Peyton, Right on Crime

Gina Womack, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children

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5:00 PM- 5:30 PM | Bus ride back to Hotel Saint Vincent 

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5:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Break 

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Evening Program 

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Dinner | Evangeline Hall, Hotel Saint Vincent

Welcome & Reflections | Josie Duffy Rice

Performance | Dwayne Betts performs “American Washi Tale”

9:00 PM | Optional NOLA Outings

After understanding the context of criminal justice in New Orleans, we’ll have a full day of programming at Hotel Saint Vincent to digest what we’ve seen, zoom out to examine the national context, and then discuss opportunities for action. This will include a facilitated debrief on site visits, time to network with fellow members, plenary discussions on reform in ‘24, as well as, breakout presentations and conversations with our most innovative movement leaders, to inspire exchange and coalesce around priorities moving forward. 

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8:00 AM Breakfast at Hotel Saint Vincent 

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9:00AM Setting the Stage & Reflections on Site Visits | Josie Duffy Rice 

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10:45 AM Break 

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11:00AM - 12:00PM Member Workshops 

Each member will select one from the following three sessions. Workshops led by fellow members are designed to help participants find their place in movement strategy, learn about restorative justice practices, or explore the role of faith and spirituality in the work. 

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Understanding Our Place in Movement | Chloe Cockburn, Just Impact Advisors & Carlos Saavedra, Ayni Institute 

An interactive workshop designed to lead members to an understanding of different strategies within social change movements, and fit their own funding within the larger movement ecosystem. 

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Healing Ourselves to Heal Others, Transformative and Restorative Justice in Action | Sonya Shah, Life Comes From It & Mike Milton, Freedom Community Center

Members will learn the history of these community-based justice practices: restorative justice, transformative justice and indigenous peacemaking. Then members and movement leaders will practice Circle - a modality central to the work.

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Understanding Our Why | Rodney McKenzie and Charlene Sinclair, Fetzer Institute 

For many, spirituality is at the core of their commitment to justice. In this workshop, members will explore the role of spirituality within the criminal justice reform  movement. 

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12:00PM - 1:30PM Lunch 

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1:30PM - 2:00PM Presentations | Amplifying Our Wins an Strategizing for the Future 

- (20 minutes) 10 Years of Justice Reform Wins | Zoe Towns, Fwd.Us  

An overview of the progress we’ve made over the past decade and how to see the current moment for reform.

‍- (10 minutes) 2024 Opportunities and Challenges | Billy Watterson, Galaxy Gives 

A deepdive into the ‘24 landscape and One for Justice priorities in the year ahead.

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2:00PM-2:20PM Move to Breakouts

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2:20- 5:00PM Deep Dives | Big Ideas for Justice Reform in ‘24

Members will break out into groups led by movement leaders to learn about the latest big ideas and innovations to advance reform in ‘24 and beyond. Members will pick one session from each block.

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2:20- 3:00PM   | Block 1 

Defending Pro-Reform Prosecutors | Zack Carpenter, Just Impact Fund

Reform-minded prosecutors have been elected across the country, and they now represent over 40 million constituents in jurisdictions under their leadership. The impact of their work has created a fairer and safer criminal justice system. However, their role in preventing crime is often willfully distorted. In this conversation, Zack Carpenter will share stories of his time working as a public defender in New Orleans that highlight the importance of his current work to defend prosecutors under fire for leveraging the power of their office to make our cities more safer and just. 

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Countering Our Strongest Opposition Forces | Democratizing Justice Initiative, Ken Chapman

Police unions wield significant power over the public safety system in the United States, often stifling criminal justice reform and working against the public good. The political and cultural influence of police unions have blocked countless proposals for reform across the country; have protected bad actors at the expense of citizens and taxpayers; and when communities succeed in changing policy, they have stymied implementation. Ken Chapman will outline how the Democratizing Justice Initiative partners with groups across the country to create public awareness of the power and inefficacy of police unions in creating true public safety. 

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Leveraging Data for Reform | Clementine Jacoby, Recidiviz

Recidiviz has pioneered a model of partnering with state criminal justice agencies to advance their use of data to reduce incarceration. Through innovative tools that enable different agencies’ often-outdated databases to speak to each other, they have been able to accelerate 100,000 people out of the system. In this session, Clementine Jacoby will share how clever use of technology and data tools can significantly reduce the footprint of incarceration across the country.

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3:00-3:30PM: Break

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3:30 PM - 4:10 PM | Block 2 

‍Ending Felony Disenfranchisement | Daryl Atkinson, Forward Justice 

Felony disenfranchisement laws expanded in the United States after the Civil War as Black men were gaining access to the ballot. Today 1 in 16 Black Americans of voting age are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. In a landmark case in North Carolina, Daryl Atkinson successfully argued to restore voting rights to 50,000 people with prior convictions. He’ll share more about the movement to re-enfranchise formerly incarcerated people across the country. 

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Seeding the Women’s Movement to End Mass Incarceration | Gina Clayton-Johnson, Essie Justice Group

An astounding one in four women, and nearly one in two Black women has a family member in prison. This is an extraordinary burden on the lives of women, who juggle caretaking, work responsibilities, and their own personal wellbeing. In this session, Gina Clayton-Johnson will share why she believes resources steered towards organizing women and families can have a far-reaching impact in reforming our criminal legal system. 

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Accelerating Movement Litigation | Mercedes Montagnes, Justice Catalyst

Social Impact litigation — suing private companies and governments for rights violations — is a powerful tool for holding bad actors accountable for breaking laws already on the books. Through litigation, organizations seek to change behavior through financial incentives brought on by large damages awards, hitting powerful actors in their pockets or through court-ordered injunctions. In this session, Mercedes Montagnes will outline how Justice Catalyst is galvanizing funds to enable organizations to employ this strategy in a unique model. 

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4:10 PM - 4:20 PM Break & Switch

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4:20 PM - 5:00 PM | Block 3

‍Disrupting Narratives Around Public Disorder With New Solutions | Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director,  Drug Policy Alliance

In 2020, Oregon passed Measure 110, a landmark ballot initiative decriminalizing drug possession for the first time in the US. In 2024, the Oregon state government overturned the will of the people and rolled it back, linking the policy to a perceived increase in public drug use and crime. Opponents of Measure 110 use it as a scapegoat for the lack of government action that fuels public disorder and homelessness. In this session, Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which ran the campaign in Oregon, will share why we should lean into public health solutions, rather than criminalization, at this moment. 

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Tackling the Politics of Crime in a Critical Election Year |  Insha Rahman, Director, Vera Action

Vera Action builds power and advances policies to end mass incarceration, restore dignity to people behind bars, and build safe, thriving communities. It works to defend hard-won reforms and change the political, media, and cultural narrative from "tough on crime" to "serious about safety" and countering law-and-order rhetoric by leveraging their poll-tested messaging to reach new audiences and sway legislators. In this session, Insha Rahman will present on her work to center the safety and justice solutions that resonate with voters in the year ahead. 

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Building a Survivor-Centered National Movement | Aswad Thomas, National Director, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice

A strong movement of crime survivors is both a powerful investment in healing and support for victims of crime, and a prerequisite for a healthy justice reform movement rooted in public safety for all. Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice are at the forefront of that organizing model. In this session, Aswad Thomas will tell his moving story of how he came to this work, and will share what a movement of crime survivors united together can achieve. 

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5:00PM Member-Only Closing Session 

Members will discuss their takeaways from deep dive sections, and strategize on next steps for the community. 

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6:00PM: Break 

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7:00 PM: Closing Dinner Program & Live Performance at Hotel Saint Vincent 

We will close the program with final reflections, a moving performance by acclaimed poet Dwayne Betts, and a stirring keynote from one of our foremost movement voices, Desmond Meade, who led the historic campaign to restore voting rights to millions of formerly incarcerated people in Florida. 

- Introduction | Josie Duffy Rice

- Performance | Dwayne Betts, Freedom Read

- Closing Keynote | The Civil Rights Struggle of Our Time, Desmond Meade, Executive Director, Florida Rights and Restoration Coalition

- Closing Remarks | Mike Novogratz

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8:00 AM-10 AM: Breakfast

12:00PM: Members and staff check out of  Hotel Saint Vincent