Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana 1600 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70133

Since becoming the Executive Director in the fall of 2007, Dana Kaplan has been steadfast in her dedication to the reform of Louisiana’s juvenile justice system. Prior to joining JJPL, Dana Kaplan was a Soros Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City, focused on detention reform. At CCR, Ms. Kaplan worked with community groups and government on developing alternatives to detention and downsizing local jails in states including Tennessee, California, Ohio, New Orleans, and New York. She was also the State-wide Organizer for the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice, a partnership between CCR and two prison family organizations that successfully reduced the cost of all phone calls from New York State prisons by fifty percent. Ms. Kaplan has also been on staff at the Brooklyn-based Prison Moratorium Project, where her efforts helped stop the construction of a youth prison in upstate New York and two youth jail expansions in New York City. She has consulted with national organizations including The National Resource Center on Prisons and Communities and the National Education Association (NEA), developing a curriculum for teachers on “Education not Incarceration.” Dana holds an MA from the City University of New York and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a recipient of the John Gardner Fellowship for Public Service.

Sonji A. Hart is the Finance Director at the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. Sonji is at the heart of the JJPL’s operations, ensuring that JJPL maintains effective and efficient financial operating systems to support the program work. Sonji is responsible for the financial management of JJPL funding including, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial reporting, grant reporting, tax reporting and personnel management. A dedicated team member, Sonji also shares input and feedback to the program staff to help develop our program areas. Prior to becoming the Finance Director at JJPL, Sonji was employed for 13 years at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Sonji received her B.S. in Accounting from San Francisco State University.

As Legal Director, Carol drives the litigation strategies of JJPL. Since beginning to practice law, Carol has spent her career representing people who most need her. For almost 20 years, she has been a zealous representative for indigent defendants at the trial level in both state and federal court, primarily in capital cases, including a number of juveniles facing either the death penalty or life without parole. Carol has also been involved in a number of cases involving the protection and preservation of the culture of New Orleans, including most recently representing the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force in a lawsuit against the City of New Orleans over excessive parade permit fees in post-Katrina New Orleans. Carol currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Roots of Music, Resurrection After Exoneration and Project Rising Sun. Carol is a 1993 graduate of Northeastern University Law School in Boston and has been a member of the Louisiana Bar since 1993. In December of 2011, Carol received the Lucy McGough Juvenile Justice Award from the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is currently the President of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Prior to joining JJPL in 2011, Charlotte was the Assistant Director of Public Policy and Programs at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women at Tulane University. As Development & Communications Director, Charlotte ensures that the public is aware of all of the good work that happens at JJPL and encourages both individual donors and foundations to support JJPL’s efforts. Charlotte began her career in fundraising at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national legal advocacy organization that worked to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” where she worked as a Major Gifts Associate. Prior to SLDN, she worked briefly in the for-profit sector at Sightline Marketing in Washington, DC as an Account Coordinator. Originally from DC, Charlotte is proud to have called New Orleans home for many years. She holds a MA from the University of Manchester in Gender, Sexuality and Culture and a BA from Tulane University in Women’s Studies. Charlotte was also a 2010-2011 American Express Fellow with the National Council for Research on Women’s Building the Next Generation of Women Leaders in the Nonprofit Sector,  was a presenter at the 2010 National Women’s Studies Association Conference, is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is a participant in Tulane University’s Center for Public Service Nonprofit Strategy Institute, and is the Greater New Orleans Chapter 2012 AFP Foundation Chamberlain Scholarship recipient. 

Since joining the staff in June 2008, John has worked to improve the conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities in Louisiana. John recognizes the role that we all play in protecting children and communities and he pushes for systemic reform of the state’s juvenile justice system. Showing his dedication to academic pursuits as well as improving the lives of young people, John’s most recent scholarly publication was the Impact of International Human Rights Law on Internally Displaced Gulf Coast Citizens published in the spring 2008 edition of the Mississippi Law Journal. Prior to becoming a Staff Attorney at JJPL, John was the Legal Director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi and also served as an Assistant Attorney General in Arkansas. John clerked for former Arkansas Supreme Court Justice the Honorable Ray Thornton. John holds degrees from Xavier University of Louisiana and Alabama State University. John received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. John is licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Ethan Ashley is a first year attorney working with the Juvenile Life without Parole (“JLWOP”) litigation team focused on zealously representing those sentenced as juveniles and currently serving life without parole. Ethan is also co-coordinator for Citizens for Second Chances, an organization focused on the Campaign to end Juvenile Life without Parole in Louisiana. Ethan has a strong passion for civil rights and juvenile justice work.  Ethan attended Howard University School of Law, where he was a member of the Huver I. Brown Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team, and the Human Rights & Globalization Law Review. Ethan was also a student attorney for the Civil Rights Law Clinic. While in law school, Ethan served as the Governor of the Eleventh Circuit Law Student Division for the American Bar Association.  In the summer of 2010, Ethan was named a Crowell & Moring LLP Public Interest Fellow where he had the opportunity to work for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs in their Prisoners’ Project. Prior to law school, Ethan attended Howard University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science. During this time, Ethan worked as a Congressional Legislative Intern for a member of the United States House of Representatives.  Ethan is originally from Compton, California. 

Wes is the founder and director of BreakOUT! and a 2011 Soros U.S. Justice Fellowship recipient. He previously served as the LGBTQ Youth Project Director at JJPL where he authored the report, “Locked Up & Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Louisiana’s Juvenile Justice System.” Wes has trained youth jails and juvenile justice system stakeholders in Louisiana on working with LGBTQ youth and presented at conferences and meetings across the country on LGBTQ youth in the juvenile justice system. Wes also serves on the Advisory Board for the Equity Project, a national initiative to bring fairness and equity to LGBTQ youth in juvenile delinquency courts. At JJPL, he coordinated the investigation for a class-action lawsuit on behalf of youth detained in an abusive youth jail in New Orleans and monitored the conditions of three state-run youth prisons in Louisiana. Wes graduated with a degree in Gender Studies and African American Studies from Georgia State University and has worked on a variety of social justice issues in Georgia, including organizing family members of incarcerated adults.

Natalia works as a youth advocate, youth organizer and attorney at JJPL. Originally from San Francisco, California, Natalia is a consistent voice in JJPL’s fight to challenge the way the state handles young people in prisons. A consummate advocate, her past experience working with youth involves working as a youth organizer with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, facilitating a mentorship program in her role as a community service coordinator for the A.P. Tureaud chapter of the Black Law Student Association at Loyola College of Law, and serving as a child advocate in individual cases. Natalia has received a Bachelors of Arts in Social Work from San Jose State University in 2006 and her Juris Doctorate from Loyola College of Law, New Orleans in 2009. Natalia has been a member of the Louisiana Bar since 2010.

Shaena Johnson, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, advocates for the rights of incarcerated youth and monitors conditions of secure care facilities in Louisiana.  Shaena also volunteers with BreakOUT!, a LGBTQ youth organizing project of JJPL.   Prior to coming to New Orleans, Shaena has served the South Baton Rouge community by working on various projects focused on improving the quality of life for youth.  As a resident of New Orleans, Shaena has worked on numerous Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, including state-wide community organizing.  Shaena has participated in numerous community research projects, including researching and editing international policy publications.   She has been a passionate supporter of Recovery School District, Orleans Parish Prison, and NOPD reform initiatives.  Shaena is a graduate of the University of New Orleans.

Miguel Nunez is a native of the South having grown up in New Orleans, Atlanta, Mississippi, and Texas. He attended college at The University of Texas with a major in electrical engineering. During the aftermath of Katrina, Miguel devoted years of service to helping residents return home to New Orleans by helping organize the resident led organization: The New Orleans Survivor Council and The Peoples Organizing Committee.  As an organizer, Miguel helped coordinate a workforce of hundreds of volunteers from across the country that were responsible for cleaning, repairing and rebuilding over 150 homes across New Orleans. After helping to rebuild New Orleans, Miguel worked with Juvenile Regional Services, the juvenile defenders office in Orleans Parish, as the senior investigator where he was employed for over three and a half years.  Currently, Miguel works for the Power of a Million Minds (POMM) youth collaborative and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS) as a youth organizer. His mission is to provide a safe place for youth to share their collective problems, ideas, solutions and then help find the tools to enact the solutions collectively agreed upon by the youth. By creating a space for youth to organize and lead themselves, Miguel strives to teach how to conduct organizing in our communities to harvest the genius of those on the bottom of our society.

Chandra joined the JJPL team in February 2008. As a receptionist Chandra, ensures that each person feels welcome in the building. The ultimate purveyor of kindness, Chandra also makes sure that the staff has enough resources in the office at all times & that the building is operating properly. Chandra graduated from Central High School in Omaha, NE. After graduating she moved to Jackson, MS and worked in the restaurant industries for many years as an Assistant Manager. Following her work there, she transitioned into the nonprofit world, joining the staff at the Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Jackson, MS, while attending two semesters at Jackson State University. Chandra also began to volunteer as a victim counselor at Catholic Charities. Later, Chandra later moved to Kenner, LA and attended the University of New Orleans until Katrina hit the area.