Jodi Hocking has spent almost a decade of her career organizing new unions across the country- most notably supporting low-income workers in their fight for a living wage in the state of NY. When her partner was incarcerated after a parole violation, she was infuriated at the lack of justice in what she had thought was a “justice system”. She realized that she could use her professional skills to organize other people who were impacted by the criminal legal system in Nevada to fight for change; that decision has forever changed her life, and was the birth of Return Strong! Her hope for Return Strong was to build effective reentry programs for impacted people in Nevada and to expand communities' perception of incarcerated people beyond “guilt and innocence”. She knew doing something was better than doing nothing- and began organizing impacted families to advocate for change within NDOC. After successfully building a collective of families, Jodi was quickly able to begin learning about the injustices within NDOC from incarcerated people themselves, revolutionizing their accessibility to self-advocate. While it began as being a “voice to the voiceless”, she now has had the honor of creating space and avenues for incarcerated people to use their own voice. And people are listening. Jodi now spends her time as an activist alongside incarcerated people and their families, using an equity lens to build true justice for the most marginalized and vulnerable populations within Nevada’s prison system.

After more than five years of operating in Virginia, True Beginnings launched in Las Vegas in 2019. Founder and CEO Vera Moore, a formerly incarcerated Black woman, has leveraged her own experience with the system and reentry to inform both the organization’s direct services and advocacy work. Guided by formerly incarcerated women, True Beginnings aims to be responsive to the growing and evolving needs of impacted women and their families. While engaging key stakeholders, True Beginnings complements the support they provide to make fundamental systemic changes that translate to decreased incarceration and recidivism (i.e., reincarceration) rates and a system accountable to the communities it has harmed.

Emily J. Salisbury, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Utah, is an expert in correctional assessment, offender treatment intervention strategies, female offenders, and gender-responsive policy. Salisbury actively consults with several state, federal, and international correctional agencies on how to implement evidence-based and gender-responsive strategies with women offenders. She served as the project director of two research sites that developed and validated the Women’s Risk/Needs Assessment instruments (WRNAs) through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Corrections and the University of Cincinnati. Additionally, she successfully implemented an identification and diversion protocol for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Clark County Juvenile Detention (Vancouver, WA), which has been implemented in several additional jurisdictions. She has published in numerous scholarly journals and is the co-editor of the book, Correctional Counseling and Rehabilitation. Salisbury received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, her M.A. in Forensic Psychology from Castleton State College, and B.A. in Psychology from William Jewell College.

Gabriela Najera is currently the Associate Warden of Programs at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center. She has been working for the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) for approximately 22 years, a career beginning in January 2002. During the course of her career, she has worked and/or supervised the following institutions: Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center Southern Desert Correctional Center, High Desert State Prison, Three Lakes Valley Conservation Camp, Jean Conservation Camp and Casa Grande Transitional Housing. Associate Warden Najera has gained valuable work experience and has held several positions in the NDOC including: Warden, Associate Warden of Programs, Associate Warden of Operations, Correctional Casework Specialist I, II and III and Substance Abuse Counselor. AW Najera is a graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She is bilingual and is a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor. Over the course of her career in Corrections, she has acquired a wealth of experience in correctional operations, institutional programs, management and offender classification. As a correctional leader, Ms. Najera continually ensures that the Department’s mission is executed with the highest level of ethics, integrity, and professionalism. It is her passion to work with offenders in order to facilitate their successful re-entry into society and ultimately make our community safer.