Blog 4

 Recently, I was able to meet with Katrice Williams. Williams is the Senior Criminal Justice Fellow at the Cleveland Foundation. In this role, she leads the Foundation's criminal justice reform strategy in efforts to positively affect the criminal legal systems in Northeast Ohio. I learned the Foundation has a long history of working on criminal justice reform. Over 100 years ago the Foundation commissioned the city to write a nearly 800-page report on the justice system. Additionally, the Foundation has the first criminal justice grant-making strategy. Unlike many people in the non-profit field, Williams started her professional career on a similar route to the one she ended upon. She received degrees in social work and non-profit and went on to work for the ACLU of Ohio. Her knowledge of the justice system was fairly surface-level until that point. When working at the ACLU, she worked on bail reform and had the opportunity to go into jails across the state and talk to individuals.

She talked a lot about how we use incarceration as a community safety tool, which is something I was aware of. Something she said that I did not know is about passing legislation. The city has often tried to pass legislation to help in various efforts relating to the justice system. The state has tended to shut those efforts down. Williams is working on an array of issues everything from juvenile justice reform, bail reform, gun laws, and attempts to stop judges from withholding information. She is making substantial change in our city and it was so great to talk to her. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog 3

  Today I was able to see The site and building ground of the new headquarters for the Cleveland Foundation. Cleveland Foundation headquarters is going to be in Midtown. The analogy that many people at the foundation used to describe the city of Cleveland as a barbell. University Circle in Case Western on one end and downtown at the other end. The area between has underdeveloped potential to make one fluid, connected city. Many companies are establishing themselves in Midtown, in an effort to build a community of trust with the people that live in the neighborhood of Hough. These companies, like the Cleveland Foundation, want to incorporate the community into their organizations. The new Cleveland Foundation headquarters overlooks a site that will soon be the home of retail, community togetherhood, and an overall fun destination. specifically, the headquarters is located right next to the Dunham Tavern Museum which contains the oldest house in Cleveland. It is a perfect way to unit...
Read more

Blog Post 2

Today I was able to sit down and speak with Ronn Richard who is the CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. One of the first questions I asked him was what his job entails. His answer was fairly straightforward. He has financial oversight for the funds, in charge of hiring and firing, and oversee grant making and fundraising. However, the most interesting aspect is how he must be an ambassador and maintain great relationships with various government entities and organizations. He continued on to share how his day isn’t just meetings that directly relate to the Foundation. For example, today he met with the head of the Red Cross in the morning and the director of the Cleveland police department and FBI gang task force in the afternoon. These important people in our community were not coming to him for the hopes of receiving grant money, but rather to bounce ideas off. This may lead to grants given down the road, but that is the next step. Richard acts as a liaison, hearing the problems and com...
Read more