Panel Spotlight: America Youth Justice Narratives: Perspectives of the Media, Policy-makers, and Communities
“America Youth Justice Narratives: Perspectives of the Media, Policy-makers, and Communities” will explore the stories we, collectively, are telling about today’s youth justice system. What are the most prominent narratives being told about the youth legal system by the media, policy-makers, and communities themselves, and what are some ways we can help shift those narratives for positive impact? How can we use storytelling and truth-telling to transform lives, to help heal harm and trauma, and make a better future for all?
Michael Umpierre, Director of the Center for Youth Justice, will facilitate a panel that includes:
- Michel Martin, Emmy-winning journalist and Host of Morning Edition on NPR
- Ramon Ramos, Founder and President of The Exception
- Liz Ryan, Stanley S. Nelson Distinguished Practitioner for Justice Reporting & Communications at Louisiana State University and former OJJDP Administrator
- Vincent Schiraldi, The Doris Duke Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and former Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services
About the Panelists
Michel Martin
Michel Martin is the Emmy-winning journalist and host of NPR’s Morning Edition. Previously, she was the weekend host of All Things Considered and host of the Consider This Saturday podcast. Martin currently serves as a contributor for PBS’s Amanpour & Company. Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women. In 2019, Martin was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism.
Ramon Ramos
The founder and President of The Exception, Ramon Ramos, has an incredible life story that defies all odds. Born and raised in the streets of San Bernardino, California, he was surrounded by the harsh realities of drug addiction and gang violence from an early age. His future appeared bleak, and the prospect of a life in prison seemed inevitable.
By the age of 15, he found himself heavily involved in gangs, battling a meth addiction and living homeless on the streets. Determined to break free, Ramon embarked on a journey of personal transformation. His experiences inspired him to establish a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life through a holistic approach to wellness.
Ramon’s story of overcoming adversity is at the heart of The Exception’s name and ethos. He refused to accept the grim predictions others had made for his life and became “The Exception.” His remarkable journey serves as an inspiration to others facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
He brings over 25 years of experience mentoring at-promise youth and individuals impacted by the justice system, dedicating his life to creating lasting, positive change for young people and their families. Today, he works to cultivate a culture of servant leadership while strategically managing relationships with community stakeholders, media, and government partners to advance outreach and expansion efforts.
Most recently he was appointed as the Chairman of the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council Ad Hoc Committee in Riverside County to help establish a community-based approach for youth justice system services. This also led him to create what is now known as the CBO Alliance, a dynamic group of community based organizations, united by a shared commitment to foster vibrant communities and address systemic challenges
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.
Vincent Schiraldi
Vinny Schiraldi’s been fighting against the mass incarceration of adults and young people for 45 years. He likens his career to a three-legged stool. He started as an advocate and provider of alternatives to incarceration as founder and executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (San Francisco) and the Justice Policy Institute (Washington, D.C). He then became what one reporter called a “radical administrator” running Wasington, D.C.’s and later Maryland’s youth justice systems (both of which he had criticized as an advocate) and New York City’s probation and corrections departments.
He counts four different mayors and one governor as former bosses. Along the way, he has taught at Harvard and Columbia, where he co-founded the Columbia Justice Lab. The through-line to Vinny’s career has been developing humane and innovative policies consistent with public safety. What fuels his work? The hope that we can treat people entangled in the legal system the way we would want our loved ones treated in the same circumstances.