About Us
Historical Background
In 2014, a group of executive directors of state-based criminal justice reform organizations founded the National Network of State-Based Criminal Justice Reform Organizations, now known as the National Network for Justice (NNJ). The goal of NNJ is to be a “big tent” that provides peer-to-peer support for organizations seeking to safely and permanently reduce prisoner populations.
The group subsequently established an expanded interim Executive Committee made up of leaders from Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oregon. They convened three national meetings of state-based organizations and funders in 2012, 2013 and 2014, staffed by Justice Strategies and in 2015, the executive committee received support to carry out a field survey. That survey, completed in 2016, showed widespread support for the type of organization we are building.
In 2017, Safe and Just Michigan (formerly the Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending) became the fiduciary for grants to NNJ from Ford and Public Welfare Foundations. Angelyn Frazer-Giles, formerly with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) was hired as NNJ’s Network Manager in July 2018. Angelyn has been tasked with helping the NNJ Board ensure that the NNJ dream of providing training and resources to our peers across the country comes to fruition.
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