People

Helen Osman is the owner of Greater Wings LLC and president of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communications. She has worked in communications for 30+ years, and has organized campaigns opposing capital punishment. Helen previously coordinated communications for the USCCB and shepherded the U.S. visits of Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis…

Pat Bergen, CSJ is an educator, spiritual directress, and retreat and workshop facilitator. With a Doctorate in Ministry and years of experience in leadership of her congregation and restorative justice work, she has a passion for awakening people to the oneness of all creation and its implications for our understanding of Scripture, justice, leadership and…

Fr. Travis Russell, SJ is the criminal justice policy advisor for the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology. He has worked with Jesuit refugee Service in Malawi, taught at Verbum Dei High School, and served as an assistant at L’Arche Seattle.

Ingrid Delgado is a policy advisor in the Office of Domestic Social Development for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and her portfolio includes death penalty policy. Prior to joining the USCCB, she worked for eight years as associate director for social concerns and respect life at the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. She currently…

Ernie Garcia is an alumni of the non-profit organization Rise Up Industries. He also does missionary work with the non-profit organization Promise L.A. Ernie’s passion is sharing his faith as a guest speaker in high schools, colleges, juvenile halls, and transitional housing centers. Ernie is A CNC Machinist for an aerospace company and is currently…

Maria Teresa is an organizational psychologist focusing on leadership development and facilitation of collaborative decision-making. She directs Foundations of Christian Leadership with Leadership Education at Duke Divinity based in Durham, North Carolina. Originally from Havana, Maria Teresa’s experience includes organizing and accompaniment work with immigrant agricultural workers in Florida, directing a university service and justice…

Carolyn D. Townes, OFS is a spiritual life and leadership coach and a loss to life mindset strategist, where she uses faith-based principles to provide spiritual and emotional wellness to women moving from the pain of grief and loss to a new life of purpose and peace. Since professing as a Secular Franciscan in 2000,…

Jean Welch Hill is the Director of the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Government Liaison for the Diocese, and part-time Communications Director. She has been working with Catholic Mobilizing Network for several years, seeking to end the death penalty in Utah. Jean is a member of the…

Heather Thompson is passionate about reforming the system and structure of incarceration in our country. Her greatest passion is restorative justice, a pursuit she nurtures through the DC Peace Team as a volunteer circle keeper and facilitator of workshops on circle keeping, victim-offender dialogues, anti-racism, and other restorative practices. She has helped develop the restorative…

Brother Dale Recinella is a longtime death row chaplain in Florida. He is the author of several books, including When We Visit Jesus in Prison: A Resource Guide for Catholic Prison Ministry, Now I Walk on Death Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles into the Arms of a Loving God, and The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty. In 2021,…

Maka Akan Najin Black Elk (Oglala Lakȟóta) is the former Executive Director for Truth and Healing at Maȟpíya Lúta (formerly Red Cloud Indian School), a nonprofit organization located on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakȟóta (Sioux) Tribe. He graduated from the University of San Francisco and then earned his Master’s degrees in…

Joseph Thornton, M.D., is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry with the University of Florida. He was formerly Associate Chief of Staff for Mental Health at the North Florida South Georgia Veterans Health System. In the 1990s he was the Medical Executive Director at Union Correctional Institution which houses Florida ‘s death row.