Jess Niewohner

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Jess joined the CFSY in September 2024 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and Medtronic. In her role, Jess supports Minnesotans incarcerated since childhood who are newly eligible for early supervised release through policy advocacy, data tracking, and hearing preparation.

Jess is a graduate of Berkeley Law and the University of Washington, Seattle. She is passionate about building a future free of incarceration, where in the aftermath of crime or violence, restorative justice, community healing, and the inherent dignity of every human being is prioritized.

In her free time, Jess enjoys singing in the Free Key Choir, hosting dinner parties for friends, writing poetry, and hiking in the Berkeley and Oakland hills.

Christina Oliver

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Christina joined the CFSY team in April 2020 and currently serves as Senior Development Manager, Major Gifts. In her role, Christina stewards relationships with CFSY’s donor base and works in close collaboration with the CFSY team to engage our community through events.

During her time as a student at Duke University, Christina studied Public Policy, where she focused her studies on criminal legal reform and education. After graduation, she moved to DC and began working in education at EAB, where she cultivated partnerships with regional colleges to promote student success. She’s thrilled to now be a part of the CFSY team, addressing the urgent justice issues that sparked her passion for public policy years ago.

Outside of the office, Christina spends her time reading novels, exploring DC, and spending time with her family in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Kempis 'Ghani' Songster

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Kempis Songster, also known as Ghani, joined the CFSY in March 2024 as CFSY’s first Transformative Healing & Restorative Justice Manager. In this role, he is helping CFSY to advance transformative and healing justice models across the nation. He is a founding member of Right to Redemption, the Redemption Project, and the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration (CADBI), as well as a co-founder and director of Ubuntu Philadelphia. Since his release in 2017 after thirty years in prison – starting when he was 15 years old – Ghani has emerged as an outspoken voice and visionary in Philadelphia’s movement to end mass human caging and to create transformative and restorative responses to harm and violence. During his first three years out, he worked as the Healing Justice Organizer for the Amistad Law Project (ALP), during which time he co-created and hosted ALP’s “Move It Forward” podcast. Ghani spent another three years at the Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project (YASP) as leader of Philadelphia’s first Restorative Justice Diversion program for youth called Healing Futures.

Rebecca Turner

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Rebecca Turner joined the CFSY team in July 2016. Rebecca tracks the results of resentencings taking place around the country as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana. She also coordinates pro bono representation and serves as a resource for attorneys litigating Miller and Montgomery issues.

Studying social sciences as an undergrad, Rebecca focused on structural inequality and its causes and manifestations. Wanting to continue that work as applied to the criminal justice system, she went to law school, where she spent her summers working with organizations that represent death row clients.

After law school, Rebecca worked at the Prisoners’ Project of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, where she advocated for the humane treatment of prisoners in federal and state prisons. In this role, she worked on litigation and advocacy to ensure proper access to medical and mental health care, establish policies that are Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, and improve conditions of confinement. She later worked at the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, where she worked to implement Prison Rape Elimination Act policies and coordinate rape crisis center services for Maryland prisoners.

Outside of the office, Rebecca spends much of her free time with her nose in a book. She also enjoys trying out new recipes and taking naps.

Megan Buchanan

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Megan joined the CFSY team in September of 2016 after graduating from American University. As one of the CFSY’s program assistants, Megan worked to engage with volunteers and donors, plan and execute events, and help further the CFSY’s advocacy efforts. As the CFSY’s outreach coordinator, Megan now focuses on engaging with individuals who have been directly impacted by the issue of extreme sentencing for children.

Although she majored in International Studies in college, her concentrations in Identity, Race, Gender, and Culture as well as in Human Rights allowed her to explore some of the very serious human rights violations happening right here in the United States. Megan became passionate about criminal justice reform and fighting for those who are disenfranchised by the current system.

Before coming to the CFSY, Megan worked as a development intern at the DC Center for the LGBT Community and more recently at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

In her free time, Megan enjoys dancing, rollerblading, or spending time with friends. She also has a passion for cheese.