Next NWBI Meeting to Address Criminal Justice Reform
Save the date for Northwest Bronx Indivisible’s January meeting: Sunday, January 19th. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we will address a subject that has an inordinate impact on African-Americans: the urgent need for criminal justice reform.
Our broken criminal justice system is capable of destroying lives; yet for many of us, it remains invisible. Come listen to our speakers and learn how unjust the system can be and what can be done to fix it.
RSVP to Attend
Our featured speakers will be:
Felipe Vargas
Felipe Vargas is Vice President of Programs for The Doe Fund, which provides housing, paid transitional work, and holistic programs to thousands of formerly homeless and incarcerated men. He leads the organization’s direct service design, management, and oversight.
A formerly incarcerated person himself, Mr. Vargas has first-hand experience with the criminal justice system, both personally and professionally, and over two decades of experience serving individuals involved in the criminal justice system. His work in the community has been recognized by Citizens Against Recidivism, the New York State Senate, and El Diario. Mr. Vargas holds an MA in Sociology from SUNY New Paltz and is a graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Business’ Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.
Anisah Sabur
Anisah Sabur is the Project Associate for the Correctional Association of New York’s Women in Prison Project, a position she has held since 2014. Ms. Sabur engages in prison monitoring and policy advocacy, works on legislative campaigns, coordinates the Coalition for Women Prisoners, and conducts community outreach and public education activities.
Founded in 1844, the Correctional Association of New York (the CA) is an independent non-profit organization that advocates for a more humane and effective criminal justice system and a more just and equitable society. Working in collaboration with a broad base of stakeholders and advocates, the CA works to build the power of the communities most negatively affected by criminal justice policy and decrease the state’s use and abuse of incarceration as a response to the socioeconomic problems facing our communities.
Martin Galvin
Martin Galvin served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. For two years he was assigned to Criminal Court, where he arraigned thousands of cases, drafted accusatory instruments and conducted a number of jury and bench trials.
After leaving the Bronx D.A.’s Office, Mr. Galvin served as Principal Law Clerk to the former Senior Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick. Subsequently, Mr. Galvin worked as Principal Court Attorney at Bronx Supreme Court.
For the past seven years, Mr. Galvin has worked as a civil litigator, primarily in Bronx County, where he conducts trials, depositions, court appearances, and appeals.
Mr. Galvin was born and raised in the Kingsbridge and Riverdale sections of the Bronx. After attending Cardinal Spellman High School and Manhattan College, he went to the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Roger Clark
Roger Clark is an activist for Voices Of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY), a grassroots organization that builds power among low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, the drug war, homelessness, and mass incarceration in order to create healthy and just communities.
Mr. Clark is also a member of the #HALTsolitary Campaign, which brings together advocates, formerly incarcerated persons, family members of currently incarcerated people, concerned community members, lawyers, and individuals in the human rights, health, and faith communities throughout the state to eliminate solitary confinement in New York’s prisons and jails.
A graduate of Clemente College, Mr. Clark, is currently a fellow of Beyond the Bars at the Center for Justice at Columbia University. The Fellowship is an interdisciplinary leadership program offering students and community members an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of mass incarceration and social change.