Rev. Dr. Donna Lawrence Jones currently serves as founding pastor of the Cookman Beloved Community Baptist Church. Prior to 2011, she served for 18 years as Sr. Pastor of Cookman United Methodist Church. Both congregations have been very active locally, nationally and internationally as disciples of Jesus Christ in the areas of prophetic witness, education, and restorative justice. Rev. Jones has been a public policy advocate in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., on issues related economic justice, education, and restorative practices for juveniles “touched” by the criminal system. Rev. Jones currently serves on the ministerial staff of the White Rock Baptist Church, Chair of the Philadelphia Faith-Based Reentry Coalition, and as a member of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity. Rev. Jones holds a Doctor of Ministry in Renewal of the Church for Mission from Palmer Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Lutheran Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Biology from Temple University.

Kavita Goyal is the Director of Community Justice Partnerships and has served in the Policy Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia since 2017.  In this role, Kavita helps the Defender build meaningful collaborations with community-based organizations and develop interactive trainings for individuals and community groups to support people involved in the criminal legal system.  Kavita helps lead the Pre-Entry Partnership and partners with the Participatory Defense movement in Philadelphia and nationally.  Prior to her work at Defender, Kavita has served as Associate Director at the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute and as Program Director for school-based mentorship and educational programs at the Center for Humanistic Change.  She earned her MS in Education at the University of Pennsylvania and has over 20 years experience as an educator, nonprofit manager, and community organizer.

Jody Dodd has been a life-long activist working on human rights, environmental, and social justice issues with many people and organizations across the US and the world. In Texas, she provided non-violence and conflict resolution/mediation trainings to numerous grassroots activists and non-profit and state agencies. She moved to Philadelphia from Texas in 2000 to work for Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s US Section office. There, she focused on International Treaties on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Women, Peace and Security. This included presentations to the United Nations and collaborating with NGOs around the world on peace and reconciliation. For the past 30 years, she has worked providing legal support for activists in Philly and across the country, including Know Your Rights trainings and as a legal observer for demonstrations. She served on American Friends Service Committee’s Criminal Justice Task Force for 5 years where their Task Force developed some of the materials used in Restorative Justice practices across the country, and as a part of their national board’s Peace Building Unit for 8 years. From 2008-2017, she worked for Krasner & Long as the office manager/legal worker, focusing on criminal defense, civil rights and police misconduct litigation. Since 2018, she has worked for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office as the Restorative Justice Facilitator. She developed and implemented a pre-charge Restorative Justice Program for juveniles and is currently working on developing a Restorative Justice Diversion for adults. She holds a BSW from Texas State University, and certifications in Oppression/Liberation Training, Peace and Conflict Resolution, and Mediation. Jody has 2 grown sons and three grandchildren, who are the light of her life.

Mr. Wilson is a founding partner at the Philadelphia law firm of Wilson & Wilson. He heads his firm’s litigation department. Mr. Wilson served on the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Board of Governors and was a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judicial Review Commission. He also served as chair-person of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section and on the executive board of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute-Philadelphia Bar Education Center. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and is a founder, and past president of the Concerned Black Lawyers Association, which provided pro bono legal advice to the Philadelphia community for over eight years. Mr. Wilson has been a moderator, course planner and speaker for various CLE courses including, but not limited to, Juvenile Practice and Procedures, The Nuts and Bolts of Criminal Practice in Philadelphia, How to Defend a Drug Case in Philadelphia County and Civil Consequences of Criminal Proceedings. He has taught as an adjunct professor of law at the Widener University School of Law. Mr. Wilson and his law partner/wife Sharon Wilson, Esquire, wrote a newspaper advice column entitled, “The Law and You,” for the Philadelphia Tribune. Mr. Wilson now frequently appears on Philadelphia Fox 29 television as a legal contributor to their newscasts on both civil and criminal matters. He received his juris doctorate from Temple University School of Law and graduated from Brown University with a B.A. honors degree in Urban Studies.