Virginia Benzan joined Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in May of 2008 as a staff attorney. She specializes in immigration law and advocates on behalf of low income immigrants. After graduating from Northeastern University School of Law, she practiced privately focusing primarily in criminal defense and immigration law. Prior to law school, she worked as a Congressional Aide for U.S. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA). Virginia is also a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross. She resides in Dorchester.

Jennifer Cormier is a labor and employment associate at Ropes & Gray LLP. Before law school, Jennifer dedicated her career to the nonprofit sector as development and communications specialist for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Most recently, she served on the Board of Directors of Families for Depression Awareness. Jennifer devoted much of her legal education to juvenile justice issues. While in law school, she interned for the Children’s Defense Fund, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and the D.C. Public Defender Service’s Juvenile Division. Jennifer holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Science in political science and communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Joshua Dohan is the Director of the Youth Advocacy Project, the only juvenile defender unit of the Massachusetts statewide public defender agency. He is a graduate of Harvard College (1980) and Northeastern University School of Law (1988). Joshua Dohan became a public defender in 1988 and joined YAP, at its inception, as its first staff attorney in 1992 and assumed the role of Director in 1999. Mr. Dohan is a returned Peace Corps volunteer, Ghana (1982-84). He is the 1998 recipient of the Access to Justice Award from the Massachusetts Bar Association. Mr. Dohan is on the Board of Directors of the African American Federation of Greater Boston, a founding Member of the Equal Justice Partnership, a Eureka Fellow, a member of the LeadBoston class of 2001, and a member of the Community Advisory Board of the Institute on Race and Justice.

Charles Faris serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. With more than 30 years of experience in the field ofaddiction treatment, Mr. Faris is regarded as one of the most authoritative experts in the administration of behavioral health care programming. His appointments have included Chairman of the Central Massachusetts Substance Abuse Association and President of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association of Massachusetts. He is also the 1991 recipient of the National Nyswander Dole Award for Outstanding Contribution to Methadone Treatment and the Francis O'Brien Award for Leadership in the Field of Substance Abuse.

Thomas Grisso, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Law and Psychiatry Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His research interests include clinical forensic assessment in criminal and juvenile cases, developmental issues in juvenile law, mental health needs of youths in the juvenile justice system, and risk of violence in adults and youths with mental disorders. Among Dr. Grisso's many accomplishments (too many to list here) is his participation in the renowned MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice.

James Houghton is currently Chairman of Market Street Trust Company, a fully integrated investment advisory and wealth management firm serving families and high net worth individuals. Prior to Market Street, James was a general partner with Megunticook Management, an early stage venture firm focused on communications and technology investments. Prior to Megunticook, James held several management position with Corning Inc., a specialty glass and ceramics manufacturer, and began his professional career as an investment banker with JP Morgan in New York and London. In addition to serving on several corporate boards James has been involved with many non-profit boards, with a particular focus on education and children at risk. He is currently a Trustee of St. Paul’s School, an Overseer at Shady Hill School and a Trustee of the Corning Museum of Glass. James was a founder and is currently a director and treasurer of The Triangle Fund, a foundation focused on children at risk in western New York State. James was also the co-founder and coeditor of the Good Men Project, a multi-media project focused on telling the defining stories of a diverse group of men. James received his AB from Harvard College in 1986 and lives with his wife and two daughters in Boston.

Alan Kamin served for 20 years in Phoenix as a State of Arizona Superior Court judge. During that service, he rotated, as was customary, between various court calendars, including civil, criminal, family and juvenile (delinquency and dependency, involving abused and neglected children). Before his appointment to the bench, he served as an Arizona Assistant Attorney General representing the State’s educational and welfare agencies, including the Arizona agency that intervened when children were abused and neglected. Before he joined the Attorney General’s Office, he practiced primarily tax and corporate law. He is a graduate of M.I.T. and Stanford Law School, and has resided in Brookline with his wife since moving from Phoenix in 2007.

John J. Larivee is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Resources for Justice, a 126-year-old non-profit corporation located in Boston, MA . CRJ’s services include research, public education, and advocacy on critical issues in criminal and juvenile justice. CRJ also provides residential and day services to adult offenders, troubled youth, and mentally retarded/developmentally disabled individuals helping them to live civil and productive lives. John has been with CRJ for 30 years, serving as its Chief Executive since 1985. John is a founding member of Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a member of the Board of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, and Past President of the International Community Corrections Association. For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, John has served on the Governor's Advisory Council on Corrections and the Advisory Council Youth Services.

William Lyttle has been President of Key since 1977. Bill holds a B.A. in Psychology from Boston University, and a M.Ed. in Leadership and Educational Administration from Worcester State College. He has served in numerous public policy leadership positions including President of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, Chairperson of the Children's League of Massachusetts, and Chairperson of the Trustees of Worcester State College. Bill is President and a founding member of Citizens For Juvenile Justice and has received many awards for leadership including the Richard J. Bond Award for Excellence in Human Services.

Rebecca Pries, LMHC, serves as Executive Director of Adolescent Consultation Services (ACS). ACS operates the Middlesex County Juvenile Court Clinics, which provide a range of diagnostic and therapeutic services for high-risk, court-involved youth and their families. Rebecca has a particular interest in effective treatment responses and delivery of services for youth with mental health and behavior problems. She supervises the clinical work of child psychiatry fellows and graduate student interns placed at the Cambridge Juvenile Court Clinic. She is co-author of the book, Kids and the Law: A User's Guide to the Court System, a practical guide to laws and court practices that affect juveniles, currently available in Spanish-English and Khmer-English editions.

Nichelle Sadler is the Boston Area Director for Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps.

Jeanne M. Schuster, Esq., CPA is a senior tax manager at Ernst & Young LLP specializing in tax-exempt organizations. Her experience with taxexempt organizations includes representation during IRS and state audits, including IRS CEP examinations, mergers and reorganizations of exempt and taxable corporations, applications for exempt status, unrelated business income tax, employment tax, information reporting, and sales tax issues. She is an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University and teaches a course on Tax-Exempt Organizations. Ms. Schuster is a member of the American Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, and Mass Bar Association. She is also a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association- Tax Committee. Schuster received her B.S. Degree in Accounting from Bentley College, her Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law, and her LL.M. Degree from Boston University School of Law.

Ken Smith has served as the Executive Director of YouthBuild Boston since 1997. He was a co-founder of Roxbury YouthWorks, Teens as Community Resources, and YouthBuild Boston. He has extensive experience with the juvenile justice system and has been a chair of Citizens for Juvenile Justice. He has more than 20 years experience in a leadership role at various non-profit youth services organizations.

Ed Stern, President of CfJJ from 2001-2003, began his involvement representing juveniles in Massachusetts as a staff attorney at the Boston Legal Assistance Project/Juvenile Court Advocacy Program. From there he moved on to the Legal Counsel for Treatment Alternative to Street Crime for Juveniles at the Youth Activities Committee for the City of Boston. He has been teaching juvenile delinquency and criminal and juvenile justice classes with internships at the University of Massachusetts at Boston for the past 29 years. Presently, most of his time is split between the private practice of law and academic interests. He writes a regular column in The New England Psychologist (formerly The Massachusetts Psychologist) covering a number of juvenile issues in several of the articles.

Scott Taberner has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) since October, 2005. MBHP manages the behavioral health care of more than 300,000 MassHealth members, including 20,000 children in the care and custody of the Department of Social Services, and more than 2,500 youth committed to the Department of Youth Services. Previously, Mr. Taberner was the Chief Financial Officer at MBHP for three years. Prior to joining MBHP, Mr. Taberner worked within state government for 21 years, including 13 years in various positions at the Department of Youth Services. Mr. Taberner received his B.A. from Assumption College and earned his Masters in Public Administration at the University of Massachusetts.

Susan Wayne is Vice President for Development at the Justice Resource Institute and President of Wayne Associates. She served as Chief Executive of the Justice Resource Institute from 1979 until September of 2006. She has served as Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Community Affairs, and Director of Program and Staff Development at the New York State Urban Development Corporation. She has also held other public and private positions in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota.