Over the past 25 years, as a community organizer and advocate, the director of a national alliance, a development and communications director, a nonprofit consultant, and a certified leadership and somatic coach, Samantha has supported the growth and resilience of dozens of social justice organizations and leaders across the country. One of Samantha’s first jobs out of college was with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an organization building power in communities directly impacted by mass incarceration. She got involved in this work initially as a volunteer motivated by personal experience. Both her father and brother spent much of their lives in and out of prison, and she learned first-hand how inhumane and ineffective the criminal justice system is in this country. Samantha wholeheartedly believes that the solutions and movements required to transform our planet must be created and led by communities most directly affected by the injustices and inequities of the world. She also believes that joy, creativity, and connection are powerful tools of resistance and essential components of any present or future worth fighting for. One of Samantha’s primary sources of joy (and exhaustion) is parenting two wild, hilarious, perplexing humans.