Transformative Visions Presidential Speaker Series – Soffiyah Elijah on Criminal Justice Reform, Felony Disenfranchisement, and COVID-19

In Announcements, by , on November 13th, 2020

This Tuesday evening, November 17, at 7 p.m. we are proud to present Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director of the Alliance of Families for Justice (AFJ). AFJ’s mission is to support families of incarcerated people and people with criminal records, to empower them as advocates, and to seek systemic change to end mass incarceration. Before founding AFJ, Ms. Elijah was the Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York, where she was the first woman and the first person of color to lead the 170-year-old organization. Elijah’s previous academic appointments include serving as Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, and as a member of the faculty and Director and Supervising Attorney of the Defender Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law. Elijah has also served as a Supervising Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and as a Staff Attorney at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society. 

Ms. Elijah has dedicated her life and her work to human rights and social justice. On Tuesday, she will discuss criminal justice and policing reform, felony disenfranchisement, incarceration, COVID-19, and family and community impacts.

Please join us for this timely and critically important conversation. The link to join the event can be found at: www.niagara.edu/speakerseries111720.

A brochure with details of the Presidential Transformative Visions Speaker Series is attached, and an overall description of the Transformative Visions series is set out below. We are proud to be able to offer this series to the University Community and hope that you are able to join us!