The Marshall Project is expanding its Advisory Board, bringing together an extraordinary group of leaders from law, philanthropy, business, public policy, advocacy and media to help strengthen its reach and impact.
The Advisory Board reflects The Marshall Project’s belief that independent journalism is most powerful when it is informed by diverse expertise and connected to communities across the country. Members will serve as strategic advisors, helping the organization broaden its audience, deepen relationships with supporters and partners, expand awareness of its work, and seek support for its journalism.
The initiative was championed by Board Chair Liz Simons, who worked closely with CEO Katrice Hardy and Chief Strategy Officer Ebony Reed to reimagine the board as part of The Marshall Project’s long-term growth strategy.
“This is an exciting moment for our organization,” Hardy said. “The Marshall Project has always been committed to producing journalism that informs the public, drives accountability and leads to better and more humane and just outcomes within the system. As our reach and ambitions continue to grow, we are honored to have these remarkable leaders helping us think strategically about how we expand our impact.”
Members of The Marshall Project Advisory Board
The Advisory Board includes leaders whose experience spans law, philanthropy, business, entertainment and public policy.
- Neil Barsky — Founder, The Marshall Project
- Reginald Dwayne Betts — Founder, Freedom Reads; poet and attorney
- LaDoris Cordell — Former Superior Court Judge of Santa Clara County; author and musician
- Soffiyah Elijah — Executive Director, Alliance of Families for Justice
- Meghan Finnerty — Senior Director, Editorial, Obama Foundation
- Kassandra Frederique — Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance
- Anthony Graves — Criminal justice advocate and death row exoneree
- Gina Clayton-Johnson — Founder, Essie Justice Group
- Marc Levin — Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice
- Jonathan Moses — Litigation Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Amy Rao — Executive Vice President of The Schmidt Family Foundation
- Anil Soni — Chief Executive Officer, WHO Foundation
- Thabiti Stephens — Chief Strategy Officer, Steve Harvey Global
- Darren Walker — President, Anonymous Content; former President, Ford Foundation
While the Advisory Board has no governance responsibilities, members will provide strategic counsel, serve as ambassadors for The Marshall Project’s mission, and help the organization connect with new audiences, partners and supporters.
Building on a Decade of Momentum
The expanded Advisory Board comes together during a period of significant growth for The Marshall Project, which is in the process of its strategic planning.
“We who care about justice and our shared humanity are facing headwinds like never before from a growing and emboldened carceral state that is criminalizing more of us every day,” said Board Chair Liz Simons. “In this urgent time, we are called upon to build a community of diverse thought partners who can advise us, be emissaries, and help share our stories with the world. We are immensely grateful to the members of our new advisory board.”
For more than 11 years, The Marshall Project has produced investigative and data-driven journalism that shines a light on the U.S. justice and immigration systems, elevates the lived experiences of people most affected by those systems, and helps the public better understand how justice and court systems work in America. At a time when trusted, fact-based journalism is more essential than ever, The Marshall Project remains committed to helping communities have the information and transparency they need to engage in democratic civic life.
Since its founding, The Marshall Project has earned two Pulitzer Prizes, been a finalist for four others, won more than 100 journalism awards, and been recognized as a Peabody Award finalist for both video series “Inside Story” and “Detained.”
Our journalism reaches millions, and our unique distribution network also serves incarcerated readers and viewers in more than 1,800 prisons and jails. The Marshall Project recently partnered with MS NOW to bring more of our journalism to a wider audience, received the 2026 Freedom of the Press Catalyst Award from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press, and partnered with events platform SALA Series to place our journalism in front of different communities.
The Marshall Project also launched a YouTube-focused version of our signature video series, “Inside Story” — a program for everyone: those impacted by and inside the prison system, as well as those on the outside, because the justice system affects us all. The Marshall Project recently launched “The Last 12 Weeks,” a five-part investigative podcast produced with Serial Productions and The New York Times that follows a team of lawyers racing to stop an execution. The series quickly became one of Apple's Top New Shows nationally, according to the Associated Press.
The Marshall Project’s reporting continues to drive measurable impact. Recent examples include:
- Judicial accountability: On June 1, 2026, a former judge in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, was sentenced to jail time following accountability reporting by The Marshall Project. The earlier reports in December 2025 uncovered how the Ohio judge resigned after being charged with records tampering, following our reporting that broke the story of her abuse of power.
- Child detention and immigration: In January 2026, our investigation and analysis revealed that the number of children held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention on a given day had increased more than sixfold since the start of the second Trump administration. Advocates warned that, at this scale, it may only be a matter of time before a child dies in custody. Our broader reporting has documented how ICE has detained thousands of children — many for longer than court-ordered limits.
- Civil rights and maternal health: Our investigation into how hospitals use drug testing to separate mothers from their newborns prompted civil rights complaints and legislative scrutiny in September 2024.
- Community-centered accountability journalism: In collaboration with St. Louis Public Radio, we created “Remember Me,” a community-driven reporting and public art project honoring homicide victims in St. Louis. The project followed a 2024 investigation by The Marshall Project, St. Louis Public Radio, and APM Reports that found that over the past decade, more than 1,000 murders in St. Louis — in mostly Black neighborhoods — remain unsolved.