Transformational Tuesdays

Motivation.In.Action (MIA) is excited to present our next installment Transformational Tuesdays – A Criminal Justice Reform Speaker Series – featuring our founder and criminal justice reform advocate, Geneviéve Jones-Wright and local advocacy group San Diegans for Criminal Justice Reform.

This month, Jones-Wright will be joined by local Restorative Justice leaders, TKF – Tariq Khamisa Foundation and Attorney Laura Sheppard.

PLEASE NOTE — this event is free and open to the public, however, you must RSVP via Eventbrite to reserve your seat. Only Eventbrite RSVPs will be honored.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transformational-tuesdays-tickets-73768402277

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Tariq Khamisa Foundation is dedicated to teaching and inspiring peace, hope, and forgiveness in youth and setting them on a path towards opportunity. With the goal of creating safer schools and communities, our character-building programs teach children the principles of accountability, compassion, forgiveness, and peacemaking. The programs and curricula TKF provides instills hope for those vulnerable due to exposure to violence, crime, harm, and poverty. TKF was founded in 1995, after college student Tariq Khamisa was killed by a 14-year-old gang member, Tony Hicks. Tony was tried as an adult and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Tariq’s father, Azim Khamisa, felt this tragedy created victims on both ends of the gun. Azim, in an act of extraordinary grace and forgiveness, reached out to Tony’s grandfather, Ples Felix. The two men came together in the spirit of healing to end youth violence.

Laura Sheppard is a solo practitioner in her tenth year as a member of the California Bar. After studying at USD School of Law and interning with the San Diego Public Defender’s Office, she opened her own practice during the recession of 2009. She has practiced trial level and post-conviction criminal defense, including writs, appeals, and parole hearings. Her primary practice area is assisting lifers in California state prisons to earn their freedom through the parole process. She has successfully helped several LWOP inmates earn a commutation from the Governor and then their freedom from the parole board. She also treasures the occasions when she can help an offender engage in restorative justice with their victim. She works and lives in the diverse immigrant community of City Heights. Her other vocations include making an impact on criminal justice policy, making art and supporting other artists, umpiring youth baseball, and building the next generation of lawyers by providing internships to law students and judging moot court and mock trial. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in theater arts from Gonzaga University, and has taken courses from the National Criminal Defense College and Mental Health First Aid USA.
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Geneviéve Jones-Wright is the Legal Director for The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA). She serves on San Diego’s Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, where she chairs the ad-hoc committee on gang documentation. She also serves on the board of the David’s Harp Foundation, an organization that radically transforms the lives of “at-risk” and homeless youth through the power of music. Jones-Wright is a volunteer attorney with the California Innocence Project, 2nd Vice President of the San Diego branch of the NAACP, and Vice President of the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association. She earned her B.A. in mass media communications from the University of San Francisco, J.D. from Howard University School of Law, and LL.M. in trial advocacy specializing in federal criminal defense from California Western School of Law. A native San Diegan, Geneviéve grew up and lives in the Southeast San Diego community.

San Diegans for Criminal Justice Reform is a community-led advocacy group dedicated to Criminal Justice Reform in San Diego County via community building, activism, calls to action, education, and voter engagement.

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The Transformational Tuesdays series is brought to you by Motivation.In.Action (MIA), a professional motivational speaking firm founded by Geneviéve Jones-Wright. MIA helps to empower people, not only to write their own stories figuratively by living out their potential but also literally. When people pen their stories in a physical way, it helps them to process emotions, heal, and find their voice. To learn more about MIA visit their website at www.YourMIA.org.

Transformational Tuesdays is an ongoing speaker series and events will be held throughout the year.