Event Description:
This webinar focused on the uniquely gendered experiences and challenges faced by systemic impacted women as well as the crucial work of self-organizing and community care being done within these spaces. Our panel included various perspectives from scholars, organization leaders, and those directly impacted by gendered injustice in our carceral system and beyond.
Panelists included:
Sara Bennett, A 2024 Guggenheim Fellow and a former public defender, Sara Bennett uses photography to draw attention to the problems of mass incarceration. Her work has been exhibited widely in museums and galleries, including MoMA PS1, and is in the collections of several museums.
Alethea Taylor, Executive Director of Hour Children, leads programs that support women affected by incarceration, substance use, and mental health challenges, while strengthening pathways to stability, education, and family reunification. Before joining Hour Children, Dr. Taylor was the Executive Director of Greenhope Services for Women and a Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College’s School of Education. Her 27-year career includes nonprofit leadership, higher education, management coaching, and advocacy within the criminal justice system. She has also taught at New York University, Nyack College, and The College of New Rochelle.
Lynne Sullivan, Regional Manager of MA/RI at the Petey Greene Program, currently oversees academic support and programming in several correctional facilities, youth centers, and reentry programs. Lynne is an advisory board member, and mentor for the Tufts Educational Reentry Network and Trenton Rescue Mission. Lynne Sullivan has been involved in the Criminal Justice System and prison education for over 20 years. She has a BA in the Science of Sociology and was valedictorian in the class of 2009 from the Boston University Prison Education Program.
Rossella Schillaci, is an award-winning scholar and filmmaker. She teaches visual anthropology and documentary cinema in university seminars. Her works are based on her in-depth anthropological research using cutting-edge audio-visual methodologies. She obtained her PhD in Digital Media, with practice-based research in digital media and anthropology. Her PhD project, the experimental Virtual Reality documentary Affiorare (Surfacing), won the Best Practice Research prize from BAFTSS and several prizes in international documentary festivals. Schillaci co-founded the independent production company Azul (www.azulfilm.com) where she works as a researcher, author, and filmmaker. She has produced and directed more than 20 films, broadcast on TV by ARTE, Sky, and Al Jazeera.