Accountable Justice Action Fund

The U.S. incarcerates its residents at a substantially higher rate than other developed countries. In particular, people who live in poor communities and communities of color have much higher rates of incarceration. This high rate of incarceration has cost hundreds of billions of dollars. We can improve community safety and avoid the expense and damage of unnecessary incarceration.

Too often, communities hardest hit by crime and incarceration do not have a meaningful say in who wields the power to charge people with crimes, set bail, offer plea bargains, and revoke parole or probation. Most prosecutors run unopposed, and most contested races are arguments about who can punish the most harshly — regardless of the costs.

The Accountable Justice Action Fund supports criminal justice reform, with a focus on reforming prosecution and equipping local and national groups to increase accountability in prosecutorial elections. We're trying to ensure that communities most harmed by crime and incarceration have a meaningful chance to elect prosecutors who will represent their interests, and reduce the social and financial cost of unnecessary incarceration.

The Accountable Justice Action Fund is directed by an independent five-person board.

Rashad Robinson, President

Rashad is President of Color Of Change, a leading racial justice organization with more than 1.4 million members building power for Black communities. He is a sought-after thought leader and collaborator for designing winning social change strategies: corporate accountability, criminal justice reform, changing media representations, building narrative infrastructure, and building political power.

Tim Silard, Secretary

Tim is president of the Rosenberg Foundation, where he has led the advancement of statewide and national criminal justice reform. He previously served as Chief of Policy of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, and is recognized as an expert in racial justice, sentencing reform, and urban policy, and as an advocate for children and youth.

Chloe Cockburn, Treasurer

Chloe serves as program officer of criminal justice reform at the Open Philanthropy Project, where she sets strategy to substantially reduce incarceration while maintaining public safety. She previously oversaw state policy reform work for the ACLU's Campaign to End Mass Incarceration and clerked for Judge Charles Sifton of the Eastern District of New York.

Michael Kieschnick, Director

Michael is President of the Green Advocacy Project, which fights for a rapid and just transition to a clean energy economy. He also is a co-founder of the Real Justice PAC. He previously served as the CEO and President of CREDO/Working Assets. He teaches a seminar on the sharing economy at Stanford University.

Michelle Crentsil, Director

Michelle is Political Director of the New York State Nurses Association, where she directs political and legislative efforts advocating for health equity and workplace safety. Previously, Michelle organized healthcare and property services workers and funded and advised nationwide political and advocacy campaigns to end mass incarceration. She participated in the Occupy Wall Street movement and continues to support the Movement for Black Lives.

Staff

Marisa Renee Lee, Director of Partnerships

Marisa is a cross-sector leader dedicated to engaging the private sector to solve public problems. Marisa previously served as the Managing Director of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance. Prior to joining MBKA, Marisa served as Deputy Director of Private Sector Engagement and as a Senior Policy Advisor for the White House's Domestic Policy Council and at the Small Business Administration.

Chris Cormier Maggiano, Senior Strategic Advisor

Chris helps social change organizations achieve their policy, political, and philanthropic goals. Chris previously served as a Principal at The Raben Group, a public policy and strategy firm where he helped launch the firm's LGBT Strategies division. Chris also oversaw strategy and outreach as the Director of Donor and Foundation relations at the Denver-based Gill Foundation and Gill Action.