Rena Karefa-Johnson

Prior to working as the Vice President of National Initiatives at FWD.us, Rena organized women with incarcerated loved ones across the country towards transformative policy campaigns. Rena began her career as a juvenile justice attorney and public defender working primarily with New York City youth locked on Rikers Island. Rena has worked closely to pass historic bail reform legislation in New York State, written testimony for the United State Commission on Human Rights and co-authored the Lives on the Line: Women with Incarcerated Loved Ones and the Impact of COVID-19 Behind Bars report. Her analysis on the American criminal legal system has been featured in NPR, Teen Vogue, Rolling Stone, The Intercept and The Appeal.

Rena received her undergraduate degree in African-American Studies from Yale University and her JD from Harvard Law School. She lives in Los Angeles, California.