The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defends the fundamental rights outlined in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These include the right to freedom of speech and assembly, the right to religious freedom, due process of law, equality before the law and the right to privacy. 

SPEAKERS:

Yasmin Cader | Director, ACLU's Trone Center for Justice & Equality

Yasmin Cader is a Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU and the Director of its Trone Center for Justice and Equality, which encompasses the National Prison Project, the Criminal Law Reform Project, the Racial Justice Program, the Capital Punishment Project, the John Adams Project, and the Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative. The Center advocates for the constitutional and civil rights of those impacted by the criminal legal system and strikes at the roots of racial injustice.

In her time as Director, the Center has driven groundbreaking litigation and advocacy efforts to transform the criminal legal system, including challenging the criminalization of poverty, state violence, and racial injustice. Yasmin works with her team to combat unconstitutional policing practices, dismantle cash bail systems, and protect the rights and humanity of incarcerated people. Under Yasmin’s leadership, the Trone Center has also led litigation and advocacy to end the death penalty, exposing its racially discriminatory application and advancing systemic changes to capital punishment regimes. In addition, Yasmin works hand in hand with her team to advance racial justice in education, housing, employment, and economic opportunity, with a focus on protecting the most marginalized communities. The team has been at the forefront of defending diversity in education by protecting educators’ right to teach about systemic racism, ensuring students’ access to inclusive learning, and holding institutions accountable to their nondiscrimination obligations. Yasmin also directs the Trone Center’s work to fight the criminalization of reproductive care, ensuring legal defense for providers and patients facing prosecution in the wake of abortion restrictions. Yasmin has appeared in many media outlets, including Mother Jones, The Marshall Project, NBC News, and The Wall Street Journal. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the The Washington Post, The Hill, Teen Vogue, and Newsweek.

A graduate of Howard University and Yale Law School, Yasmin began her career as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and later served as an Honors Program Trial Lawyer with the Employment Litigation Section of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Before joining the ACLU, she worked as a public defender in state and federal courts across the country. Yasmin currently lives in Los Angeles and is deeply involved with her community. Nationally, she is a leader in racial justice initiatives, mentoring the next generation of public interest lawyers, and serving in leadership roles with organizations like the Opportunity Agenda, Gideon’s Promise, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the National Criminal Defense College, and The Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School.

Summer Lacey | Criminal Justice Director, ACLU of Southern California

Summer Lacey is the criminal justice and police practices director at the ACLU of Southern California. Before joining ACLU of Southern California, Summer worked as senior legal counsel at The Justice Collaborative (TJC). Prior to joining TJC, Summer worked as a deputy federal public defender at the Los Angeles Office of the Federal Public Defender. Summer represented indigent clients accused of committing diverse federal crimes, mentored new attorneys, trained legal interns, and facilitated at a national training on impactful sentencing advocacy.

Before joining the Federal Public Defender's Office, Summer began her legal career at Brooklyn Defender Services, where she advocated on behalf of clients facing felony and misdemeanor charges. During law school, Summer worked on racial justice related litigation with the ACLU and advocated for children's rights with DITSHWANELO, a human rights organization in Botswana.

Summer received a BA in Communications from UCLA and a JD from New York University School of Law.

Immigo aims to defend and provide equal opportunities for immigrants by creating bilingual resources to inform and providing educational as well as professional development programs to the immigrant community.

The mission of the Department of Arts and Culture is to advance arts, culture, and creativity throughout Los Angeles County. It provides leadership, services, and support in areas including grants and technical assistance for nonprofit organizations, countywide arts education initiatives, commissioning and care for civic art collections, research and evaluation, pathways to the creative economy, and cross-sector creative strategies that address civic issues.

SPEAKER:

Kimberly Glann | Sr. Manager, Cross Sector Initiatives

Kim Glann manages the Cross Sector Initiatives Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, which includes two core programs that advance cultural equity, inclusion, and access. The Creative Strategist Program places artists in residence in County departments to develop solutions to tough civic challenges. The Creative Career Pathways for Youth program develops pathways that prepare youth, particularly those who experience barriers to participation, for careers in the arts and creative industries. Kim has been with LA County for 15 years, previously serving on the senior leadership team for the Ford Amphitheatre. Kim has a long history as a Los Angeles area theatre artist and has been an adjunct professor for Claremont Graduate University.

Public Matters is an artist led Creative Studio for Community Engagement. They advise clients and partners on proactive education and engagement strategies that transform the culture, practice, and experience of civic participation in communities of color. These strategies aim to address the trust gap between institutions and agencies and historically marginalized neighborhoods and communities.

SPEAKER:

Reanne Estrada | Co-Principal and Creative Director

Public Matters co-principal and Creative Director Reanne Estrada (she/they) is a Los Angeles-based public artist whose poly-disciplinary practice explores how bodies negotiate their identities, navigate shared and at times contested spaces, and reimagine their power within and outside existing systems. Reanne also does individual projects, is one-third of “Mail Order Brides/M.O.B.,” a Filipina American artist girl gang, and collaborates with artist C. Ree. Her work includes social practice, sculpture, performance, audio tours, ridiculous outfits. They have orchestrated crosswalk choreography to address traffic safety in South Los Angeles, explored how fried pork skin can conjure solidarity in Historic Filipinotown, bought and sold lucky dreams in South Korea, developed “Privacy Prophylactics” using “People Who Don’t Exist,” and been a professional bridesmaid for hire. Reanne is also a certified laughter yoga leader.

Reanne’s work has been funded by the California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists, California Arts Council, Durfee Foundation, and Gerbode Foundation. They have been awarded residencies from Lucas Artists Residency Program at Villa Montalvo, Civitella Ranieri, McColl Center for Visual Art, Pink Factory, and the Kohler Art Center. Her Public Matters work has been supported by CalHumanities, LA2050, National Institutes of Health, Truth Initiative, and Southern California Association of Governments.

Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) is a non-profit that is building collective power to demand better living and working conditions in order to secure the dignity, safety, and economic stability of the Pilipino community in Southern California.