Part 2: Criminalizing Gender: Best Practices, Programs and Policies that Make a Difference

Please join us at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Wednesday, April 19th, from 9am-1pm, for a conversation on the examination of policies and practices that impact the criminalization of young women, cis gendered, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQ youth. We will also explore the ways in which policies have influenced rates of incarceration, as well as emerging research, recommended policies and practices that show promise to respond effectively and fairly.

 This discussion will be held in the 2nd Floor Dining Hall at 524 West 59th Street (between 10th and 11th avenues). Breakfast will be served at 8:30am. Speakers will begin promptly at 9:00am.

This symposium is generously sponsored by the Pinkerton Foundation and organized by the Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative at John Jay College.

Keynote Speakers

Jeannette Pai-Espinosa is currently President of the National Crittenton Foundation which advocates for the needs and potential of girls and young women faced with childhood adversity, trauma, poor outcomes and poverty. In 2013, Jeannette was recognized with the Robert F. Kennedy Embracing the Legacy award for her work supporting the empowerment of girls and young women in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Jeannette holds a master’s degree of education in student development theory, counseling, and administration. Jeannette is currently: • Chair, National Foster Care Coalition • Director, National Girls Initiative – Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice • Advisory Committee, Rights4Girls • Advisory Committee, Women’s Services – SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Andrea Ritchie is a Black lesbian police misconduct attorney and organizer who has engaged in extensive research, writing, and advocacy around criminalization of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color over the past two decades. She is currently Researcher-in-Residence on Race, Gender, Sexuality and Criminalization at the Social Justice Institute of the Barnard Center for Research on Women. In 2014 she was awarded a Senior Soros Justice Fellowship to engage in documentation and advocacy around profiling and policing of women of color – trans and not trans, queer and not queer. Ritchie is the author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women and Color which will be published by Beacon Press in July 2017. Ritchie was lead counsel in Tikkun v. City of New York, groundbreaking impact litigation challenging unlawful searches of transgender people in police custody, contributing to sweeping changes to the NYPD’s policies for interactions with LGBTQ New Yorkers. She also served as co-counsel to the Center for Constitutional Rights in Doe v. Jindal, a successful challenge to Louisiana’s requirement that individuals convicted of “crime against nature by solicitation” register as sex offenders, and Doe v. Caldwell, the class action filed to remove all affected individuals from the registry, resulting in relief for over 800 class members.

Featured Panelists

Alison Cornyn, President and Creative Director of Picture Projects
Lisa Crook, Director of Juvenile Justice Services at Leake and Watts
Nina Rose Fischer, PhD, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Kylynn Grier, Policy Coordinator at Girls for Gender Equity
Tashira Halyard, J.D., Senior Associate at Center for the Study of Social Policy
Sarah Mikhail, LMSW, Director of Family & Career Development at The Center: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center
Stacey Saunders, Assistant Director for System Involved Youth at The Door – A Center of Alternatives
Felicia Mosley Smith, LMSW, Senior Director, Youth Reentry Network Friends of Island Academy
Tiffany Williams, Program Coordinator at the Administration for Children Services

Registration is now closed.