With the impending closing of Rikers Island, this conference will bring together community members, service providers, academics, and policy makers to identify and work on the policy and programmatic solutions needed to reimagine a justice system that centers healthy individuals, families, and communities. This conference will look at people, policy, and place, with a focus upon the structural policies regarding incarceration and the community based support required for justice and healing. The New School will serve as both a laboratory to test and advance collaborative work, as well as a support to existing efforts throughout New York City. The conference will be action oriented to ensure that the knowledge produced and shared will lead to actionable initiatives and progress toward a more just NYC.

Featured speakers include:

Jennifer Jones Austin, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

Mark Gardner, Director, Parsons School of Design, The New School

Dana Kaplan, Deputy Director, NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

Ana L. Oliveira, President & CEO, New York Women’s Foundation

Lilliam Barios Paoli, (former) NYC Deputy Mayor

Maya Wiley, Henry Cohen Professor, Senior Vice President for Social Justice, The New School