Policy

As a state policy advocate, Amanda lobbies for state level policy changes to prevent and correct wrongful convictions. She joins the Innocence Project after over a decade as chief of staff to New York State Assemblymember Dan Quart. In that role, she drafted and passed legislation to decriminalize pocket knives and face masks, as well as to prevent the automatic fingerprinting of foster youth. She also worked to initiate the first public hearings into sexual harassment of New York legislative staffers in over 25 years, and to force NYPD to comply with federal standards in reporting sexual assault statistics. Amanda is a graduate of Vassar College and also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College.

Ava Lopez joined the Innocence Project in 2023 as a policy assistant. She provides administrative support to our team of state policy advocates so that they can effectively prevent and correct wrongful convictions.

Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Ava worked at an urban planning and management consulting firm as an analyst, providing support to senior staff. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in political science and completed internships with a state senator, a nonviolence advocacy NGO, a healthy housing nonprofit, and a gubernatorial campaign.

When she’s not mingling with her fellow political theory enthusiasts, you can find her at the movies.

Bay Scoggin believes in America’s promise of justice for all. That’s why he joined the Innocence Project in its mission to free wrongly convicted people and reform the system. As state policy advocate, he is responsible for working with exonerees and network organizations to make our state’s justice systems more just, equitable, and science-based. A gregarious policy wonk, Bay is inspired to fight for justice every day. Bay previously worked at the Texas Public Interest Research Group, where he was the director. He is a graduate of Emerson College. In his free time, Bay enjoys traveling, going on adventures around New York City, playing board games and games of skill with friends, and keeping up with the news.

Isabelle Cohn is passionate about the equitable implementation of forensic science in the criminal legal system. That’s why she joined the Innocence Project in its mission to free wrongfully convicted people and prevent further injustice. Isabelle first joined the Innocence Project in June 2021 with the data science and research team, before transitioning into the policy department. As the forensic science policy associate, Isabelle provides support to all federal and state initiatives to improve the scientific rigor, quality management, and error management responses of forensic science systems. She also coordinates the Innocence Project’s participation in the development of forensic science standards. Isabelle graduated from Syracuse University in 2020, where she earned her B.S. in forensic science and psychology.

Julia is a policy research associate at the Innocence Project and is responsible for conducting research and analysis on core policy issues related to the team’s state-based advocacy work. Prior to the Innocence Project, Julia worked for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) investigating allegations of police misconduct. She graduated from Macalester College with a B.A. in political science and holds a master’s degree in criminology and sociolegal studies from the University of Toronto.

Keli Young joined the Innocence Project in 2024 as a state policy advocate. In this capacity, she works with exonerees and network organizations lobbying for state level policy changes to prevent and correct wrongful convictions. Keli has a decade of experience in local and national criminal justice policy. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Keli was the civil rights campaign coordinator at VOCAL-NY working alongside formerly incarcerated New Yorkers on legislative and budget campaigns to end mass incarceration.

Keli was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. in psychology from Tufts University. She is deeply passionate about living out her faith and advocating for actual justice and Black liberation. When Keli is not plotting the fall of capitalism and white supremacy, you can find her on a plane, at the movies, or out and about with her husky, Riley.

As the policy administrator, Olivia directly supervises innocence-related reforms and policy accomplishments, along with developing systems to ensure policy goals are met. Olivia is passionate about her commitment to racial equality and policy reform. She previously worked at one of the most prestigious law firms in New York City, where she assisted in corporate law and DEI. Olivia is a graduate of Caldwell University, where she revitalized and served as president of the Black Student Union. She also earned her M.P.A. in public policy & law from Liberty University. When Olivia isn’t working, she loves to travel and enjoys vinyasa yoga at her local studio.

Stacey is the legal policy analyst with the Innocence Project. In her role, she is responsible for legal research to support advocacy campaigns across the country.

Stacey is a proud 2017 graduate of Northeastern University, in Boston, and a 2020 graduate of the Delaware Law School. While in law school, Stacey served as the vice president of the DLS Black Law Students Association (“BLSA”) Chapter and later served as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chair of the National Black Law Students Association. Before joining the Innocence Project, Stacey was a Marciano Legal Fellow with the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (“RAINN”), where she did legal research and legislation drafting focused on sexual violence response, Title IX, and constitutional law.

Stacey is barred in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Stacey is a local to the greater Philadelphia area and naturally is a big fan of Joel Embiid.

Tebah Browne joined the Innocence Project in September 2022. As the forensic science policy specialist, she assists the policy department with policy work that focuses on the reliability, validity, and regulation of forensic science techniques and technology. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Tebah worked at the Legal Aid Society in its DNA unit as the in-house scientist and DNA analyst. Tebah graduated from John Jay College with B.S. and M.S. degrees in forensic science with concentrations in molecular biology and toxicology. Tebah is currently pursuing a PhD in forensic investigative sciences at Oklahoma State University, where her dissertation focuses on the implementation, regulation, and education of forensic science in developing nations.

As the director of policy, Walter Katz leads the Innocence Project’s policy department, which works with policymakers and partner organizations to develop and drive advocacy efforts at the federal and state levels to ensure that the criminal legal system is equitable, accurate and reliable, and that law, policy, and practice do not compromise the quality of justice and lead to the conviction of innocent people. Walter is a former public defender who has focused most of his career on improving the accountability of the criminal justice system and has held leadership roles in police oversight, local government, and philanthropy. Throughout his career, he has come back to righting and preventing wrongful convictions from post-conviction litigation related to the LAPD Rampart CRASH scandal to developing risk management protocols while with the City of Chicago. His advocacy leadership helped lead to the passage of police accountability legislation, such as decertification laws and traffic stop data collection requirements, in states across the country. Walter was a 2020 Open Society Foundation Leadership in Government Fellow, his legal scholarship has appeared in the Harvard Law Review Forum and the SMU Law Review. He has written about the intersection of racial, criminal, and economic justice in the Los Angeles Review of Books and for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Winnie Ye is a state policy advocate at the Innocence Project, where she collaborates with exonerees and network members to change laws, policies, and practices to prevent wrongful convictions and free innocent people. Winnie joined the Innocence Project in 2024 after a decade working at the intersection of policy advocacy, culture change, coalition building, and health equity.