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REVEREND ALEXIS ANDERSON

Rev. Alexis Anderson is a proud member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition and a servant teacher, minister and the founder and Executive Director of PREACH. PREACH is a 501 (c) 3 non profit focusing on the 3 C's of literacy: competence in basic life skills, computerization and commerce with a special focus on special need populations such as domestic violence survivors, ex-offenders, low and at risk families. Rev. Anderson was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the daughter of the late Rev. Martha Crump and has: 2 sisters and 1 brother; 6 children and 7 grandchildren; 1 great-granddaughter; and one outrageous Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix called Sir Matthew and one 13 year old Rat Terrier named Cali. She has served as an outreach minister in LaJolla, California and Tacoma, Washington and pastored churches in Washington and Louisiana. She is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

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BEN CASTRO, Impacted Person

From a DJ to now the Vice President of Ideal Market, Benito Castro exemplifies dedication and determination.  As an impacted person, seeing a need for formerly incarcerated people, Benito launched a nonprofit, with the aim of providing cars for formerly incarcerated people upon release. Knowing that the Louisiana State Police confiscate cars from offenders upon arrest and then auction them off later, Castro came up with the idea to name the organization Freedom Rides, which helps incarcerated people get a driver's license and pay for a car ahead of their release.

 

Head of Human Resources Roberto Torres says, “Ben is a person who helps with his day-to-day energy, which he brings here like a family, that the day in the future is better than the present. He is disposed to help and listen. He is a guy about union and not about separation.”

 

Ben believes that everyone deserves a second chance to move forward and through hard work daily, success will follow.

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CHRIS D'AMOUR

Chris D'Amour is a Partner at Adams and Reese, where he defends insurance companies and commercial entities, handling matters out of every office in the firm's footprint. A significant part of his practice stems from the large London insurance market. Instrumental in growing the firm's insurance practice in the post-Katrina era, Chris has tried many judge and jury trials, often serving as lead counsel. He litigates and mediates matters relating to several industries, including construction, entertainment, insurance, real estate, and manufacturing. He is Board Chair of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, and affiliated with Boys Hope/Girls Hope, National Institute of Trial Academy, Order of Barristers, and Young Leadership Council.

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ROYCE DUPLESSIS

In the Spring of 2018, Royce Duplessis was elected in a special election to serve as State Representative for District 93 in New Orleans, Louisiana. District 93 includes Central City, CentralBusiness District, Lower Garden District, French Quarter, Lower Mid-City, Treme’, 7th Ward, and St. Roch neighborhoods. Prior to serving in the Legislature, he worked as Special Counsel for the Louisiana Supreme Court and served as Chairman of the New Orleans City Planning Commission. Royce is a Past President of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society. Since 2012, he has volunteered as a mentor to male teenagers through the nationally-renowned Silverback Society. Royce ran for public office in order to better serve those who are underserved and marginalized—with a
focus on living wages for the working class, increased access to quality early childhood education, and smarter criminal justice policies. His committee assignments include House and Governmental Affairs (Vice-Chair), Commerce, and House Executive Committee. Royce is a graduate of St. Augustine High School, Xavier University of Louisiana and Howard University School of Law. He is a practicing attorney and operates a solo law practice, with a focus on civil litigation. He is married to Krystle Ferbos Duplessis, and they are proud parents of one daughter, Reese. They reside in Central City.

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JOSH FAUBERT, Treasurer

Josh Faubert is a certified public accountant and a manager at Ericksen Krentel LLP, where he works in the audit, assurance, and advisory practice.  Josh specializes in audits, reviews, compilations, and helping to solve complex accounting issues for corporations, governments, employee benefit plans, and not for profit entities.  Josh is also a leader in his firm’s technological initiatives, including a drive to enhance audit quality through data analytics and using data preparation and analysis tools to automate accounting processes.  Josh is also involved with the Louisiana Society of CPAs and Young Leadership Council.  Despite being a Canadian citizen, Josh has lived in Louisiana for over 20 years and received his B.S. in Accounting and Masters of Business Administration from the University of New Orleans in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

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MONIKA GERHART, Vice-Chair

Monika Gerhart is Director of State Relations for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, managing the Mayor’s legislative and regulatory agenda. Prior to that, Monika served as Director of the Office of Community Development for Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge, the Director of Policy & Communications at the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, Director of Policy and Government Relations for the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, and Gulf Coast lead for Amnesty International. She earned her Masters as a Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies Fellow at Tulane University in 2004 with a concentration in Political Science. Monika is also a proud graduate of the Louisiana Effective Leadership Program, a partnership between Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and and Southern University’s Nelson Mandel School of Public Affairs, as well as the New School for Social Science Research Democracy & Diversity Institute.  In addition to serving with JAC, Monika’s volunteer commitments include the boards of Independent Women Organization (IWO) and Hagar’s House for Women.

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MEGHAN GARVEY, Secretary

Meg Garvey is a career public defender and legislative advocate for criminal justice reform. Meg was a founding member of the Orleans Public Defenders (OPD) in 2006 where she currently serves as Policy Counsel. She recently led the charge for emergency legislative funding for public defense and was able to secure 7 million additional dollars for public defense in an emergency session. Meg co-authored a report on the need for bail reform in Louisiana in her role as an active member of the Louisiana Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Committee. Meg organized Youth Justice Day when hundreds of young people met with Governor John Bel Edwards on the state capitol steps to urge the Legislature to pass juvenile justice reforms. Over the course of her career, Meg has led campaigns to reform the criminal justice system, ensuring social workers for children in delinquency cases, improving expungement access for children, raising the age of criminal liability and improving privacy protections for children. She has worked on behalf of New Orleans’s children and families as the Managing Director of the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LCCR). Meg is the president elect and the legislative chair of the Louisiana Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL).She is also an appointee to the Louisiana Judicial Council. Meg is a respected expert, leading many local and national trainings on legal issues. ​​

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JAMAAL LEE

Jamaal Lee is a reading intervention teacher at Jefferson Rise Charter School in Harvey, La., and current graduate student at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is a father of three daughters: Jaklyn, Makhia and Camille. As a JAC board member, Jamaal aspires to advocate for others using his unique experiences as a father, educator, student and someone who was given a second chance. He brings a unique perspective and a passion for helping others gain knowledge and access to resources that will help them become productive members of their communities. 

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KIM WATTS, Chair

Kim Watts is the Office Manager, Personnel Director and Financial Manager for the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center. Kim manages an array of duties ranging from managing the daily affairs of the office to financial planning. Kim also deals with staff needs such as health plans, leave, work environment and equipment.  Kim earned a degree in Political Science from Xavier University while working her way through school. She has worked to organize a student forum on racism and campaigned for several political candidates. While at Xavier, Kim undertook an internship with the Loyola Death Penalty Resource Center and was later employed by it as a research assistant. Prior to her arrival at the LCAC, Kim was a legal secretary/paralegal for Loyola's Post-Conviction Defender Organization.

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ADRIENNE WHEELER, Co-Founder

Currently the Executive Director of Louisiana Appleseed, Adrienne Wheeler (BA, Sarah Lawrence College; MA, New York University; JD, Loyola College of Law, New Orleans) is an attorney, military family member, and second generation Filipino immigrant predominantly from Savannah, Georgia. She has been a criminal justice advocate in law and sociology for nearly fifteen years. She graduated from Loyola College of Law, New Orleans in 2011 as an Echoing Green Fellow, was a 2012 Propeller Fellow, was named one of Gambit's 40 Under 40 in 2013, and received the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center Public Service Award in 2014 for her work as an attorney. She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association's Criminal Justice Committee and the Building Bridges Committee.  From 2011 - 2015, she was the Director of Law & Policy and oversaw JAC's policy programming and direct legal representation. She was appointed by the Board of Directors as the Executive Director of JAC in August of 2015. She is married and has a daughter. At some point during her criminal justice accountability and reform career, Adrienne would like to teach college students historic social movements and methods of identifying the use of law to repress movements and communities. 

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