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Nicole D. Porter
Senior Director of Advocacy at The Sentencing Project
Nicole D. Porter is a prominent figure in criminal justice reform and advocacy. As the Senior Director of Advocacy at The Sentencing Project, she has established herself as a leader in state sentencing policy, social policy development, and grassroots organizing.1
Professional Experience
Porter has been with The Sentencing Project since 2007, steadily advancing through various roles:
- Senior Director of Advocacy (August 2021 - Present)
- Director of Advocacy (May 2012 - August 2021)
- State Advocacy Coordinator (May 2009 - May 2012)
In her current position, she manages campaign efforts on sentencing reform, voting rights, reentry, and racial disparity. She also develops state-level advocacy and communication strategies on criminal justice reform policy and supervises advocacy staff.1
Areas of Expertise
Nicole D. Porter specializes in:
- State movement in criminal legal reforms
- Sentencing reforms
- Racial disparities in prisons and jails
- Voting rights and felony disenfranchisement
- Prison closures and prison reuse
Her work focuses on promoting a broader framework of public safety within America's criminal legal system.1
Previous Roles
Before her current position, Porter held several other roles in advocacy and policy:
- Blogger at Texas Prison Bid'ness/Justice Strategies (2007-2021)
- Advocacy Trainer at One Voice Texas (2008-2009)
- Project Director at ACLU of Texas (2005-2007)
- Field Coordinator at Appleseed Foundation (2004-2005)
These positions involved research, policy analysis, legislative work, and training in various aspects of criminal justice and advocacy.1
Education
Porter holds advanced degrees that have prepared her for her career in advocacy:
- Master's degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin
- Bachelor's degree in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University1
Throughout her career, Nicole D. Porter has consistently worked towards reforming the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on state-level policy changes and addressing racial disparities within the system.
Highlights
Earlier this summer, a report I coauthored - Out of Step: U.S. Voting Rights in a Global Perspective- was co-published by The Sentencing Project, Human Rights Watch, and the ACLU. Since the report’s publication the publishing team hosted an advocacy webinar featuring system impacted activists in Louisiana and Minnesota as well as colleagues from France. Attendees from Latin America and Europe joined advocacy organizers from across the United States.
Let’s talk about process in completing a major report that will hopefully support narrative campaigns and advocacy organizing for years to come.
💡 Lean in to Cross-Organizational Collaboration: The Sentencing Project joined colleagues at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU to draft and publish Out of Step. The author team met regularly for more than a year. Initial meetings focused on report organization, understanding the capacity needed to complete the project, and leveraging organizational capacity. For example, Human Rights Watch provided staff expertise to confirm the comparative international law on voting rights for people with criminal conviction histories and the ACLU leveraged leadership in their affiliate offices to confirm state policy. While The Sentencing Project‘s disenfranchisement estimates were used, we also focused on project management, report design, and post report advocacy planning.
💡 Don’t stop at publication day: Speaking of post report advocacy planning, the report team has worked on a range of advocacy tactics since late June. We organized a virtual discussion featuring directly impacted activist Checo Yancy from Louisiana's VOTE and Carolina Nascimento from Prison Insider. An Out of Step plenary discussion was held during the Civic Power voting rights convening in Denver. The report was also mentioned during a Congressional Hill briefing focused on guaranteeing voting rights for all residents regardless of conviction status in federal elections.
💡 Collaboration requires process: The tactics from publication to public/advocacy education required taking time to plan and brainstorm with the team. This was made all the more possible by regular check in calls and making time to meet to discuss strategies and tactics.
#issueadvocacy #advocacy #socialjustice #endmassincarceration #endfelonydisenfranchisement #votingrights
Can't stop, won't stop. We are on the right side of history. #endfelonydisenfranchisement #votingrights
Nebraska was among at least 26 states in recent decades that made it easier for people convicted of felonies to vote, according to an analysis by The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group that seeks to limit imprisonment. The new Nebraska law built on an earlier measure that abolished a lifelong ban on voting for former criminals, but required them to wait two years after completing sentences.
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Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
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Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
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