About Me: JPN Fellow Intros

[Jose Medina]

Hello everyone! I look forward to meeting you all!

My name is Jose Medina my pronouns are he/his/him. I am a court watch intern for the Davis Vanguard, an online newspaper from Yolo County. I report on and write articles on everyday court hearings, current news, and social justice issues. I am interested in topics on gender, race, class, criminal justice, and homelessness.

Random Fact: I am a huge Star Wars nerd, not just the movies but the books, comics, games, and TV shows too! May the Force Be With You!

[txinxty]

Hello,
My name is Trinity Jolley (she/her/hers), and I am a junior at the University of Southern California. I have two Associates Degrees and am majoring in Sociology with a minor in Social Work- Juvenile Justice. I am interested in engaging in conversation about juvenile justice, the cash bond system, rehabilitation efforts, and the allocation of funds in our prison and jail systems.

One fun fact about me is that I have my own crafting business. @tairiescreations.

[Andreya she/hers]

Hello again everyone!

I’m Andreya,my pronouns are she/hers. I’m a long time civil rights activist, and organizer involved in law and policy at San Bernardino Free Them All, From Gangs To Glory, and Root & Rebound. I am part of the Reimagine LA/JusticeLA/Care First CA/Stop The Musick Coalition. I am on the immigration and housing committees at the National Lawyers Guild. Some of my recent work is around state and local pretrial reform, budget advocacy, removing sentencing enhancements, recalling sentences under PC 1170(d)
#DefundThePolice #FreeThemAll movements. My organizations provide free services such as Cannabis conviction relief, expungements, peer to peer counseling, gang prevention/intervention, transitional housing, mutual aid, employment referrals, and more. I work with injustice involved and formerly incarcerated individuals, families, the currently incarcerated, immigration, and houseless communities.

We are committed to seeing out the closure of Mens Central Jail, and simultaneously pushing back on the expansion of the Musick jail in Orange County. If you are interested in getting involved, or can support on social media, let’s connect.

A random fact about me? My team (and friend) ran for Congress 2020 here in Los Angeles. I led an organic, grass roots campaign with my peers… the candidate, myself, and another staff member being formerly incarcerated. We went heads up against the establishment, a career politician. We didn’t win, though it was an awesome experience!

[Andreya she/hers]

@Jose

Hi there! I’m wondering if you have your eyes on what’s happening with the drug jail that is proposed for Yolo County? We’re working on opposition to this currently. I’m interested to know your position on this project.

[melvinsen]

Hi Folx,

My name is Melvin and I use (he/him) pronouns. I’m currently a senior at California State University, San Marcos majoring in Sociology and will be attending the Master of Sociological Practice program this fall. My up-bringing in a low income, immigrant household and my volunteer experiences have me very interested in social issues relating to mass incarceration in black and brown communities, the school-to-prision pipeline, federal immigration policies and policing and crimmigration.

Random fact about me: I’ve been watching way too many reality TV shows during the pandemi lovato.

I look forward to working with you all!
Melvin

[aleenacontreras]

Hello! My name is Aleena Contreras, pronouns she/hers. I am the training coordinator at Fathers and Families of San Joaquin. I facilitate trainings or restorative/transformative justice models and culturally sustainable healing practices.

I am most interested in education reform including dismantling the school to prison pipeline, creating police free schools, creating culturally sustaining programs and curriculum, and so much more.

A random fact about me is I love to do Bikram Yoga, because 90 minutes of yoga in a 105 degree room makes me feel like I can pretty much do anything! 🙂

[kenny.ng]

Hello!

I’m Kenny Ng (pronounced like “-ing” / he/him) and am an educator and writer with a focus in arts education as pathways for equity and restorative justice for students of color in institutionalized classrooms. I moved out of full-time nonprofit roles for years last fall and am an education consultant now. I work with Ava DuVernay’s org ARRAY building out the education initiative, ARRAY 101. I review grants and grant funding for school districts to implement arts education strategies and programming through the LA Dept of Arts and Culture. I am a writer and strategist for a creative marketing agency with a focus in social justice called Swell Creative.

I’m most interested in using this opportunity to grow my understanding of the criminal punishment system that everything else sits on, specifically through a lens of the school-to-prison pipeline and in developing a more informed framework for policy + practice of transformative justice to take back into my education work.

Random fact: My great-grandmother was Peruvian.

[michaelat]

Hi everyone! My name is Michaela Tyus (she/her) and I am from the Inland Empire (Southern California). I am a youth organizer for Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (C.O.P.E) located in San Bernardino county. Our organization is a Black led, faith based group that covers multi-issues with our overall end goal of ending mass incarceration. I graduated in 2020 from the University of San Diego, with a BA in Ethnic Studies, Spanish, and Political Science. I am extremely interested in criminal justice, specifically prison and police abolition, the policies and systems of oppression that work against Black and Brown and other marginalized communities, Black liberation, and transformative justice/healing.

A random fact about me is that I got my Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do when I was only 9 years old!

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