OUR STAFF
SOFFIYAH ELIJAH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Soffiyah Elijah is the Executive Director of Alliance of Families for Justice (AFJ). Established in 2016 in NY, its mission is to support families of incarcerated people and people with criminal records, empower them as advocates and mobilize them to marshal their voting power to achieve systemic change.
Prior to founding AFJ, Ms. Elijah was the Executive Director of the Correctional Association of NY (CANY) where she was the first woman and the first person of color to lead the 170 year old organization. Ms. Elijah has dedicated her life to human rights and social justice, and is a frequent presenter at national and international forums on criminal justice policy and human rights issues.
Prior to leading CANY Ms. Elijah served as Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School. Before moving to Harvard, she was a member of the faculty and Director and Supervising Attorney of the Defender Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law. Ms. Elijah has also worked as a Supervising Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a Staff Attorney at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society, and in private practice.
PHOEBE BROWN, CENTRAL NEW YORK COORDINATOR
A highly skilled community activist, advocate, and multicultural bridge builder, Phoebe brings her passion for community-building to everything she does and everyone she meets. She moved to Ithaca 24 years ago from Harlem, NY, where she grew up in a community of neighbors who supported each other through life’s joys and challenges. Most recently an educator with the Multicultural Resource Center's new Re-Entry Program, Phoebe has also worked with Cayuga Medical Center, the Southside Community Center’s Black Women’s Empowerment Project, the Ithaca City School District, BOCES, the Crisis Hostel Project, and other local organizations.
She is the founder and facilitator of Women’s Healing: Mind, Body and Spirit, which brings together women of all ages from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to meet in a supportive environment. She has served on the Boards for GreenStar Community Projects, Get Your Greenback and Bike/Walk Tompkins; and currently is a member of the Steering Committee for Building Bridges. In 2013, she was selected as a Civic Leadership Fellow by Cornell University and received the Rere Sojourner Hassett Social Justice Award from the Multicultural Resource Center. She is a 2014 Graduate of the Natural Leaders Initiative. But her biggest achievement, she says, is that she is the mother of three and the grandmother of eight.
Lumumba Bandele-Director of Community Organizing
He is a father, husband, longtime community organizer and educator from Central Brooklyn. From 1994 – 1998 he served as programming coordinator at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCC). He went on to receive his Masters in Human Service from Lincoln University in 1998. As a member and organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Mr. Akinwole-Bandele helped establish its campaign to counter police abuse and misconduct. He currently serves on the board of the Center for Constitutional Rights and is Board Chair at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute.
