It is with deep gratitude that I share that, as of July 1st, I am serving as Partnership for Safety and Justice’s fifth executive director after 18 years at the organization.
PSJ’s story began in 1999, when Brigette Sarabi founded the Western Prison Project and Arwen Bird launched Survivors Advocating for an Effective System. The two influential organizations joined forces in 2004 and became Partnership for Safety and Justice in 2005, bringing together an approach to criminal justice advocacy that centers survivors of crime, people convicted of crimes, and their families and communities. PSJ’s model has since inspired other organizations across the country.
This approach was a welcome change for me – a place where everyone’s humanity could be held, even after harm occurred. I returned home to Oregon after 14 years in Louisiana, where I worked to get people off of death row, co-founded a juvenile justice reform organization, and advocated with and for people serving juvenile life without parole. PSJ felt like the next natural step.
Our belief in people’s humanity has always been as deeply rooted as our commitment to ending mass incarceration. David Rogers, PSJ’s executive director during my first six years with the organization, often said, “Incarceration is the least effective and most expensive approach to public safety.” We continue to put those words into action—advancing policies that reduce our reliance on incarceration and other forms of correctional control while investing in approaches that help people and communities thrive.
That commitment has made PSJ a leading voice for criminal justice reform in Oregon. We have helped prevent new prisons from being built, documented the experiences of survivors of color in the justice system, and secured hundreds of millions of dollars for healing, culturally specific services that support the communities most harmed by mass incarceration. Throughout this work, we have remained focused not only on challenging systems that cause harm, but also on building solutions that create lasting safety. PSJ’s impact has made us an anchor organization for criminal justice in Oregon and an inspiration in the country.
I am proud to be part of this work – and to have worked alongside this team and so many of you to build the world we want to live in. We are working toward a future where people impacted by the criminal justice system have meaningful opportunities to succeed, and every community can be healthy and safe.
At PSJ, we don’t just challenge the systems that cause harm; we advance solutions. We don’t just tear down what isn’t working; we build what communities need to thrive. We are working toward a future where people impacted by the criminal justice system have meaningful opportunities to succeed and every community can be healthy and safe.
When harm occurs, individual accountability matters. But lasting safety also requires us to address the conditions that allow harm to take root and to invest in healing for individuals, families, and communities.
The political and funding landscape ahead will be challenging. My goal is to ensure that PSJ – and its mission – remain strong, resilient, and ready to lead this fight for generations to come.
Our board and team are ready to meet this moment with determination, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to the communities we serve. Your partnership makes this work possible.
PSJ has always been sustained by people who choose, again and again, to believe that a more just future is possible. To everyone who has stood with us – through your generosity, advocacy, time or trust – thank you. I am honored to carry this work alongside you.
With gratitude for PSJ’s founders, former executive directors, staff, partners, and each of you,
Shannon Wight
Executive Director