ejohnson24@nul.org

Elissa Johnson leads the team at FWD.us in developing advocacy and campaign tactics to reduce incarceration in some of the country’s highest incarcerating jurisdictions. Previously, Elissa was an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for eight years, where she brought class action litigation related to prison conditions, youth justice, education, and other civil rights issues. She also helped drive successful legislative campaigns to reduce youth and adult incarceration in Mississippi. Later in her career at SPLC, Elissa brought litigation related to access to counsel and worked with a team of attorneys to develop a nationwide lawsuit on conditions in immigration detention facilities across the country. She also clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves in the Southern District of Mississippi.