Liz Ryan to join our American Youth Justice Narratives panel!
Posted in Announcements JRF
We are please to announce that Liz Ryan, former Administrator of OJJDP, will be joining our American Youth Justice Narratives: Perspectives of the Media, Policymakers, and Communities panel at our upcoming 2026 Janet Reno Forum on September 10th!
Liz will be joined by Ramon Ramos, and other leading figures in media and policy to explore the stories we, collectively, are telling about today’s youth justice system. How are those who have been impacted by the system incorporating that experience into their lives? What are the helpful and unhelpful stories prevalent today about youth justice, and what are some ways we can help shift those narratives?
We hope you can join us reimagine what the next chapter of the American Youth Justice Story can be on September 10th! Learn more on the Forum’s registration site!
About Liz Ryan
Liz Ryan currently serves as the Stanley S. Nelson Distinguished Practitioner for Justice Reporting & Communications at Louisiana State University. In that role, Liz engages Louisiana journalism students as well as reporters across the country in covering youth justice issues and the juvenile justice system, and helps to run the LSU Cold Case Project field experience class to investigate civil rights era murder cases. Together with her colleague Janet Chiancone, Liz launched Read for Youth Justice, a resource curated in partnership with youth justice stakeholders and libraries to elevate books, narratives, and voices that reflect the realities of youths’ experiences in the justice system.
Following her appointment by President Joseph R. Biden in 2022, Liz served as the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, Liz championed the key priorities of the youth justice field: (1) Treat children as children, (2) Support children at home with their families in their communities, (3) Expand opportunities for justice-involved youth, (4) Promote racial equity and fairness, and (5) Center directly impacted youth and their families in youth justice transformation work.
Before leading OJJDP, Liz led several national initiatives on youth justice, including the Act 4 JJ campaign to reauthorize of the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act; Campaign for Youth Justice to end the placement of youth in adult court, adult jails and prisons; and the Youth First Initiative to end youth incarceration and invest in youth. She has held policy & advocacy roles at the Youth Law Center, the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, and the Children’s Defense Fund, as well as serving in senior legislative roles on Capitol Hill and the Delaware governor’s office.
Liz played a pivotal role in securing the first-ever posthumous pardons in Virginia’s history, alongside family members and advocates that Governor Ralph Northam granted in 2021 on the 70th anniversary of the executions of 7 young men from Martinsville, Va: Francis DeSales Grayson, Frank Hairston Jr., Howard Lee Hairston, James Luther Hairston, Joe Henry Hampton, Booker T. Millner, and John Clabon Taylor.
A Virginia native, Ms. Ryan holds degrees from Dickinson College and The George Washington University, and is pursuing an M.A. in journalism at the University of Alabama.